Abstract
Genetic improvement of tolerance of forest trees to environmental abiotic stresses, such as drought, high salinity, low temperature and heat, is a promising method of approach for sustainable conservation and remediation of environment. However, molecular mechanisms by which woody plants acquire stress tolerance have not yet been understood. It is important to determine how woody plants respond to environmental stress and which molecules function in stress tolerance. Poplar, whose whole genome has been sequenced, should be the most popular as a model tree. In the present study, we have constructed a full-length enriched cDNA library from leaves of axenically grown poplar (Populus nigra var. italica) subjected to stress treatments with dehydration, high salinity, chilling, heat, ABA and H2O2. The 5' and 3' nucleotide sequences of >30,000 cDNA clones were determined. We will discuss their similarity and specificity among plant species in the light of comparative genomics.
