Highlights - TBGRC 2006-2007 Annual Meeting and Report

• Grant support strong
  - 1.2 million in 06-07
  - Industry funds ~8% of total: Great leverage continues!

• New grant on analysis of regulations governing tree biotechnology (92K, Resources for the Future).
  This will allow us to conduct a survey of regulation effects on research in the USA

• New grant on impact assessment of GMOs on wildlands (45K, US Forest Service, D. Harry PI).
  This will allow us to inform wildland managers about emerging issues with GMO crops and trees.

• Continued funds for biotech outreach web site and lectures (20K, OSU Ag).
  We will continue to bring leading biotechnologists to campus for public lectures.

• Success in Center for Advanced Forestry, CAFS Center (~25k/yr, National Science Foundation).
  We continue to take part in this national center with several other major forestry colleges across the USA.

• Success in obtaining USDA APHIS permit for field trials of flowering trees of many types.
  We wrote a long application and successfully were granted a permit for flowering transgenic trees, needed to study effects of sterility genes.

• Strong participation in natl/intl regulatory-biosafety activities: Biodiversity Protocol, FSC policy, Natl Res Council Committees, Inst Forest Biotechnology, Pew Initiative.
  We continue to argue in all these fora for science based regulations that do not needless hamper field research.

• High quality of field study of yield and competition in GA-inhibited, semi-dwarf trees.
  Very high survival and good field growth will allow precise estimates of genotype x density effects.

• Strong growth effects seen in the greenhouse from insertion of native poplar GA genes.
  Several genes studied gave marked growth improvements.

• Strong, narrow crown domestication phenotypes seen in phytochrome B-RNAi field study.
  The gene has a marked effect on reducing branch length and size.

• High quality of field study, new mutants seen, in new study of activation-tagged trees.
  Approximately 3 acre field trial in Corvallis established and growing well.

• Excellent survival in newly planted field study of sterile sweetgum (Liquidambar).
  The trees continue to look normal, suggesting that it will give accurate estimates of the effects of their sterility genes on growth and flowering.

• Clone bank established with >1,000 events, >5,000 trees, with sterility genes in poplar.
  This will allow us to produce cuttings to establish high quality field trials in the future.

• Continued strong pollen reduction in 10-year old male-sterile transgenic poplar trees in field trial.
  The tapetal promoter:barnase gene gives nearly complete male-sterility in the field.

• Marked changes in wood quality and growth in lignin-modified, antisense-4CL trees in field trial.
  Changes documented in biomass growth, dieback, wood color, and wood strength.