“Post-genomics” research in Eucalyptus in the near future

Abstract

Forest produces the most abundant biomass resource on earth, and its ecological and commercial importance in maintaining the global environment and human society is irreplaceable. It is an urgent task to establish technological infrastructure to produce forest biomass in a sustainable manner. Forest tree biotechnology plays a pivotal role to achieve this goal. Genus Eucalyptus contains some of the most valuable and the fastest growing tropical tree species in the world. In 2006, the whole genome sequence of poplar, the first woody plant genome, was released. Subsequently, whole genome sequencing projects of two Eucalyptus species have started, and are currently ongoing. Eucalyptus expression-sequence tag (EST) databases are quite useful for identifying Eucalyptus genes which are orthologous to those of poplar and other model plants. In addition, establishing efficient systems for in vitro regeneration of transformed Eucalyptus will be indispensable for genetic improvement of the species. Importantly, these activities must be done to conserve the global environment and benefit the social welfare of local communities. In this review, the current status and “post-genomics” research directions in Eucalyptus biotechnology are outlined.