First Tree Genome Sequenced

Five months after the completion of the human genome, a group of scientists representing 34 institutions around the world has published the first complete DNA sequence of a tree. As well as detailing the evolution of the poplar tree, the sequence may provide the first step in using the plant as a renewable feedstock for a “biofuel” that might one day replace gasoline.The cell walls of the tall, fast-growing Populus trichocarpa are made up of the carbohydrate cellulose, which can be chemically converted into ethanol, a popular biofuel already in use with newer “flex-fuel” vehicles.“With the entire genome of the tree, we can create a holistic picture of how cellulose is produced and learn how to tweak that process,” said molecular ecologist Stephen DiFazio, one of the authors of the new study, published in the Sept. 15 issue of Science.Read more at treeremovalpermit.com and Seed, September 2006.