Why undertake this scientific effort?

Understanding the pine genome has multiple benefits. It will lead to fundamental new discoveries and technologies to:

• Promote development of renewable bio-based products, including biofuels
• Ensure healthier forests and more sustainable forestry practices
• Enhance capacity to sequester carbon and lessen global climate change
• Improve the competitiveness of U.S. forest products and
  related industries
• Broaden trees’ ability to withstand environmental stresses and
  invasive pests
• Revolutionize the breeding of forest trees
• Restore environmentally sensitive forests and endangered tree
  species
• Uncover mechanisms that enable trees to be among the most
  abundant, largest and longest lived organisms on the planet
• Obtain insight into plant evolution and the ecological success of pines by comparing ancient gymnosperm with modern angiosperm plants

Over the past six decades, using conventional breeding techniques, scientists have successfully improved strains of conifers to produce straight, fast growing trees for commercial use and trees that are genetically resistant to common tree diseases and insects. By unlocking the pine genome, we can accelerate the selection process and discover new ways to capture the ecological and economic value contained in the genetic information. For example, a recent study of the rice genome identified a gene that limited the production of grain heads. Silencing that gene by hybridizing selected lines of rice has significantly increased grain yields. Similar results may be achieved in forest management by understanding the genome of pine and other conifers.

What is needed?

The Pine Genome Initiative envisions a joint effort of competitive grants programs administered through existing federal agencies to achieve the goals of this program. To be successful, funding at $10 million in the first year and $30 million per year for each of four years will be required.

Why Pine?

Understanding the biology of pines and other important commercial conifer species in the United States is essential to maintaining the nation's competitiveness in the global forest products market. With well over 1 billion pines and other conifers planted annually in the U.S., it is expected these plantations will provide about 70 percent of the U.S. timber supply by 2040. Even today, timber has the highest annual farm gate value of any crop other than corn. In addition, pines and other conifers are:

• Environmentally important in fast growing plantations for carbon sequestration;
• Ecologically important because of its broad geographic range and its ability to occupy soils that range from degraded to highly fertile;
• Have larger genome sizes;
• Are high in cellulose and lignin content which are the two most abundant macromolecules in the biosphere.
  

The emphasis on unlocking the pine and other conifer genomes has advocates throughout the world. The reason is that an accomplishment in any coniferous forest-tree species will have application to other conifers. Scientific expertise and collaboration for the envisioned effort is being offered from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Australia, New Zealand, and regions from Asia, Southern Africa, Europe and Scandinavia.