Jeffrey Dean, professor of forest biotechnology in the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, is spearheading a project at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI) that 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.”
This may be a good thing for biofuels in the future, and also for environmental lobbyists who will be rightly concerned about the potential for a loss of biodiversity and the potential for an Uberpine to be bred for biofuel plantations.