Jun 15 2005
The discovery of a gene in eucalypts believed to control wood formation could help scientists breed better trees for furniture making.
Dr Lawrie Wilson and Dr Gerd Bossinger from the University of Melbourne’s School of Forest and Ecosystem Science have isolated a tree gene with direct links to heartwood formation. Heartwood is the wood that makes up the inner, dead part of the tree that is used for building and joinery.
The new research at Creswick in Victoria suggests the gene’s main job is making chemical plugs that stop micro-organisms from entering the heartwood where they can trigger diseases.
These plugs, called tyloses, are important for the long-term health of a tree, but are the bane of the timber processing industry because they are a barrier to the chemicals needed for preserving and treating timber for construction and fine furniture.
The aim of the research is to use molecular techniques to regulate the production of tyloses to make timber processing easier, cheaper and with less chemical waste.
According to Dr Bossinger, in natural forest where a tree can live for more than 100 years, tyloses are vital. In a plantation environment where the rotation is 30-50 years for timber used in furniture or construction, and just 15 for pulpwood, this protection is less important.
“If we understand how genes control tylosis formation, less valuable species, or younger and poorer quality trees could become easier to treat, increasing their versatility and value,” says Dr Bossinger.
“At the moment, finding and optimising these traits is inefficient”.
“Tree plantations are the way ahead for Australia, but farming trees is radically different from growing traditional crops or livestock,” says Dr Bossinger.
“Forest scientists are at the stage farmers were about 10,000 years ago. Our use of modern molecular techniques should mean we won’t have to wait another 10,000 years to reach the same understanding of tree breeding,” he says.
“Australia’s timber industry should strive for diversity. An understanding of the molecular processes involved in heartwood and tylosis formation could provide a range of novel timber resources for construction and fine timber”.
A full account of this research will be published in the July edition of the University of Melbourne’s ‘Research Review’.
The University of Melbourne’s School of Forest and Ecosytem Science is located near the Daylesford, at Creswick. It conducts advanced forest research as well as offering a Bachelor Degree in Forest Science and Advanced Diplomas in Forestry Management and Wood Products Management.
http://www.unimelb.edu.au
Posted15th June 2005