Science Daily quoted Jeffrey Dean, professor of forest biotechnology, in an article about a project he is spearheading at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute. Once complete, the project will greatly expand the gene catalog for pines and initiate the first gene discovery efforts in five other conifer families.
“The wood from conifers will almost certainly be an important component of this nation’s biomass energy strategy,” Dean said, “but despite extensive commercial plantations they remain essentially an undomesticated species. Information from this project will greatly enhance the ability of our tree improvement programs to develop pines tailored to suit the needs of the future bioenergy industry.”
