Project description:Wood stiffness is the most important wood quality trait of forest trees for structural timber production. We investigated genes differentially transcribed in radiate pine trees with distinct wood stiffness using bulked segregant analysis (BSA) and cDNA microarrays. Transcript accumulation in earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) of high (HS) and low stiffness (LS) trees in two progeny trials was compared.
Project description:Seasonal wood development results in two distinct wood types: earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW), which is the major cause of wood qaulity variation. We investigate transcriptome reorganization during seasonal wood development in radiata pine using a newly developed 18k cDNA microarrays. Three sampling trees each at juvenile (5 yrs), transition (9 yrs) and mature (14 yrs) ages (based on the wood rings at breast height) were selected from a plantation forest of radiata pine at Bondo, NSW , Australia (35º 16' 44.04 S, 148º 26' 54.66 E). The sampling trees at juvenile and mature ages were grown within 50 m distance and under similar environment. Two sampling trees at rotation age (30 yrs) were chosen at Yarralumla, ACT, Australia (35° 18' 27'' S, 149° 7' 27.9'' E).
Project description:Understanding of mechanisms of resistance of forest trees against microbial pathogens is an essential prerequisite for the development of sustainable forestry practices and for the improvement of commercially-grown trees via either conventional breeding or rational genetic engineering. We have studied the transcriptional response of Scots pine trees to Heterobasidion annosum infection under field conditions. By comparing responses of trees to wounding and to fungal inoculation we could identify a set of genes that were specifically responding to fungal infection. We have also investigated a contribution of Scots pine antimicrobial protein Sp-AMP2 to the host antimicrobial defense to evaluate the potential of Sp-AMP genes as molecular markers for resistance breeding.
Project description:The pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilu (Bx) s, one of the most serious forest pests, worldwide, is considered the causal agent of the pine wilt disease (PWD). The main host species belong to the genus Pinus and a variation in the susceptibility of several pine species to PWN infection is well-known. Additionally, it is also recognized that there is variation in the virulence among different B. xylophilus isolates. In the present study, we applied a quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics approach to perform a deep characterization of proteomic changes across two B. xylophilus isolates from different hosts and geographical origins and with different virulence. A total of 1456 proteins were quantified and compared between the two isolates secretomes and a total of 2741 proteins were quantified and compared between the nematode proteomes in two different conditions, pine tree extract and fungus stimuli.
Project description:This study began with 72 male 4-week-old BALB/c mice. The mice were split evenly into one of four cohorts: Control, River, Pine, and Road. The control mice were raised with standard corn cob bedding whereas the remaining mice were raised with clean bedding amended with 300 mL of one of three different types of soil. The soil exposure continued throughout the experiment, with 300 mL of new soil added with bi-weekly cage changes. The soils used to amend the cage bedding were previously characterized as having high (Pine), medium (River), and low (Road) diversity. The River and Pine soil were collected from Duke Forest and the Road soil was collected adjacent to Highway 15-501 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. All mice were given a standard diet and the cages were distributed reverse osmosis treated water through a centralized Lixit® system that was fed to each cage in parallel. After 32 days of standard rearing with amended soils, the mice were exposed via oropharyngeal aspiration to either live influenza A (PR8) virus or heat inactivated (HI) virus.
Project description:In conifer forests of Northern Europe, a pathogenic fungus Heterobasidion annosum attacks the roots of Scots pine and causes mortality. Trees with infection grow slower and produce less timber with reduced quality. Despite applied control methods, such as switching tree species to a non-host species, or stump treatment, root and butt rot continues to be a serious forest health problem. Disease resistance breeding is a less-applied control method which has potential to improve tree health. However, neither conifer genotypes with absolute resistance to Heterobasidion sp. nor robust selection markers for resistance breeding have been found. We studied the responses of various Scots pine genotypes to Heterobasidion annosum infection and mechanic damage in drained peatland. Stems and roots of mature naturally regenerated Scots pine trees growing in drained peatland were either artificially infected with H. annosum or wounded and inoculated with sterile inoculum. Untreated trees from the study sites served as controls. Responses of different Scots pine genotypes to pathogen infection as determined by lesion size were recorded from samples harvested four months after inoculation, and least susceptible and highly susceptible genotypes were selected from the study material. Analysis of terpenoids from both least susceptible and highly susceptible pine genotypes by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry indicates that some monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes are differentially induced depending on the susceptibility level. Transcriptomic microarray analysis was therefore conducted with RNA from stems of the least susceptible and highly susceptible Scots pine genotypes. Gene expression data from cDNA microarray were analysed by comparisons between the treatments, and the genotypes with different resistance level. The aim of the study is to highlight transcripts specific to differing levels of susceptibility.
2019-02-01 | GSE66168 | GEO
Project description:Fungal community structure shifts in litter degradation along forest succession caused by pine wilt disease
| PRJNA954836 | ENA
Project description:Succession of foliar fungi in a forest succession gradient
| PRJNA674320 | ENA
Project description:Soil microorganisms under pine forest