A year and a half following the publication of the pedunculate oak genome by France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) and The Commission for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA), initial results based on this genomic resource were published in the April 16, 2020, issue of New Phytologist.
A year and a half following the publication of the pedunculate oak genome by France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) and The Commission for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA), initial results based on this genomic resource were published in the April 16, 2020, issue of New Phytologist.
The 10 articles in the collection help clarify the evolution of oaks, from the deep roots of their diversification through their more recent evolution. They also identify key genes involved in oak adaptation to environmental transitions and resistance to pathogens, investigate the implications and history of oak hybridization, and trace genomic evidence for an estimated 56 million years of oak evolution. This landmark volume will be of value to tree scientists worldwide. Four of the articles were co-authored by researchers at The Morton Arboretum.
Oaks are keystone species in a wide range of forest and savanna ecosystems throughout the northern hemisphere. They are also model organisms for investigating ecological and evolutionary processes responsible for plant diversification and adaptation, especially in response to rapid environmental change. Given the high rate of global climate change, genomic approaches to understanding tree responses to the environment are particularly timely.
Read more at The Morton Arboretum
Image by RegalShave from Pixabay
