Contact: Jim Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Loblolly pine trees are a common sight in Mississippi. For generations, they have been a valuable resource and important commodity.
In addition to their significance to the state's ecology and economy, a researcher at Mississippi State University also sees the trees as crucial to the future of humankind.
According to Dan Peterson, loblolly pine and other forest species will be required to meet the raw material, bioenergy and carbon sequestration needs of an ever-growing human population.
Peterson, who serves as associate director of MSU's Life Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and director of the Mississippi Genome Exploration Laboratory, recently shared this message in a plenary lecture at the FoResTTraC Conifer Genomics international workshop in Alcala de Henares (Madrid), Spain.
"The European Commission is very concerned about the economic and environmental effects that climate change will have on European forests, and so it convened a meeting of experts from around the world to discuss the possibilities and to begin formulating a 10-year plan that will advance research on conifers in a way that benefits industries and forests," he said.
Conifers are trees and bushes that bear cones, like the cone of the loblolly pine with which Mississippians are familiar.
Peterson, also an MSU associate professor of plant and soil sciences, was one of only eight scientific experts invited to advise the European Commission's FoResTTraC Conifer Genomics group. The invitation was based on his work at Mississippi State exploring the genes of loblolly pine.
Through a National Science Foundation-funded project, Peterson developed key genetic resources including the world's largest loblolly pine DNA library. These resources will be critical in eventually sequencing the tree's genome--a process that will yield a wealth of data for scientists and the forest and timber industry, he explained.
According to Peterson, there are many similarities between the forests of Europe and the U.S. Understanding the impact climate change can have on trees at a molecular level will give researchers and policy makers an edge in meeting local and global challenges.
"Genetic information is critical for protecting pines and other trees from introduced pests and pathogens, and for further development of plantation pines for renewable raw material and energy production," he said. "It was exciting to share the work we have done at Mississippi State with the European Commission and international peers, and another example of how our research is making a difference."
Currently, Peterson and other FoResTTraC attendees are writing a paper about the meeting, and additional gatherings are expected as recommendations are developed and conifer genomics research moves forward.
For additional information about the Mississippi Genome Exploration Lab's loblolly pine project, please visit http://www.mgel.msstate.edu/pine.htm.