Websites of International Scientific Projects

Websites of International Scientific Projects

Students will also find to be useful the information presented in website of the major international scientific projects in the field of forest trees biotechnology.

TREESNIPS

http://cc.oulu.fi/~genetwww/treesnips/

Developing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) markers for adaptive variation in forest trees

It is important for tree breeding, for conservation genetics and for the study of evolutionary questions to find the loci controlling variation in adaptively important traits. Recently methods have been developed that rely on finding associations between the traits and nucleotide variation at the loci themselves, or at other associated (tightly linked) nucleotide sites. The statistical methods used have been developed mainly for human populations, where strong population structure gives rise to difficulties in avoiding spurious associations. Forest trees provide favorable opportunities for these kinds of studies. In many traits, there are strong environmentally varying clines, while the rest of the genome is rather uniform over large areas. We use this situation to test association mapping in the search for the loci governing these adaptive traits.

UOULU (Co-ordinator), Department of Biology, University of Oulu, Finland,

Prof O. Savolainen

INRA, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Equipe de génétique et amelioration des arbres forestiers, France. Dr A. Kremer

UNIUD, Dipartimento di Produzione Vegetale e Tecnologie Agrarie, Universitat´de Udine, Italy, Prof M. Morgante

INIA, Forect Genetic Group, Forest Research Centre, Spain, Dr M. T. Cervera

UU, Department of Conservation Biology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden. Dr M. Lascoux

SCRI, Tree Genetics Group, Genome Dynamics Programme, Scotish Crop Research Institue, Dundee, Scotland, UK. Prof W. Powell

METLAFinnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa, Finland Prof K. Karkkainen

EVOLTREE

http://www.evoltree.org/

FP6 EVOLTREE WILL LAST FOUR YEARS (2006-2010) and will create a Network of Excellence to integrate European research infrastructures and resources to study the adaptive capacity of tree species using sophisticated methods, and to engage the scientific community into a dialogue with policy-makers and other stakeholders.

EVOLUTION OF TREES AS DRIVERS OF TERRESTRIAL BIODIVERSITY

IS A LARGE EU-FUNDED NETWORK OF EXCELLENCE LAUNCHED IN APRIL 2006 TO ANALYZE THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON FOREST ECOSYSTEMS FROM AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE.

A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE EVOLUTIONARY history of forest trees can help us to predict how they might respond to climate change. Forests are complex ecosystems and subsequently forest research needs to apply different approaches to gain a better understanding of how they function. The European forest research community has carried out numerous important studies on forest biodiversity. However, many institutes maintain overlapping research infrastructures and often carry out similare studies without coordination.

The EVOLTREE Network involves 25 research groups from 15 European countries that are working together to identify and study genes of adaptive significance in order to evaluate the contribution they make to the evolution of tree species and tree communities.

COST E28 Genosilva (European Forest Genomics Network)

http://genosilva.org/

Use genome resource developed for model tree species linking gene sequence and gene function Enhance understanding of the genetic and cellular processes affecting tree growth and survival. Use understanding to develop new tools to enhance forest productivity Dialogue with forestry practitioners, tree breeders, forest owners, forest managers and policy makers. To inform the public of the use of new genetic tools and technologies; to show benefits.

Specific objectives

Measures to achieve objectives

TREEBREEDEX

http://treebreedex.mediasfrance.org/pages/body/homePage.jsp

A working model network of tree improvement for competitive, multifunctional and sustainable European forestry. The European forest tree breeding infrastructure network

6th framework programme Research Infrastructures Action Integrating activity 2006-2010 m.

Umea plant science centre

http://www.upsc.se/

UPSC is a centre of experimental plant biology in Umeå. It was formed in 1999 by the Department of Plant Physiology , Umeå University, and the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology , Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

FUNCFIBER

http://www.funcfiber.se/

FuncFiber is a Formas centre of excellence in wood science. FuncFiber aims to unravel the function of genes underlying the structure and chemistry of wood fibers. The FuncFiber consortium consists of Swedish research groups from Umeå Plant Science Centre, Umeå University, the Wood Ultrastructure Research Centre and the Royal Institute of Technology with expertise in wood biology and chemistry and is collaborating with the Forest Biotechnology company SweTree Technologies. FuncFiber will produce transgenic lines, analytical databases, novel chemical tools and prediction models for wood properties, and in-depth knowledge about gene function in wood formation. FuncFiber will deliver knowledge that can be exploited in forest tree breeding.