Research Progress in Gene Cloning in Forest Trees
林木基因克隆研究进展

Forest trees have rich germplasm resources and a wide array of genetic differences among germplasms. Cloning and transforming genes that control important traits in tree species can be valuable in cultivating new clones with excellent quality. However, many of the genes with potential application have not been discovered or isolated. In recent years, a large number of genes related to important traits in forest trees have been identified and isolated with the establishment of forest cDNA libraries, the use of large-scale random expressed sequence tag sequencing, improvements in cloning technology, and more specifically, the complete genome sequencing of Populus trichocarpa Torr. & Gray. This information has laid a solid foundation for using transgenic technology to cultivate new varieties of forest trees for high yield, fine quality, high stress tolerance and pest resistance. In this review, we summarize the progress in gene cloning of forest trees over the last 20 years. We discuss some problems in gene cloning and application, as well as future applications and prospects for gene cloning and transgenic technology of forest trees.