Genetic and Phenotypic Characterization of Figured Wood in Poplar
Genetic and Phenotypic Characterization of Figured Wood in Poplar Youran Fan1,2, Keith Woeste1,2, Daniel Cassens1, Charles Michler1,2, Daniel Szymanski3, and Richard Meilan1,2 1Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, 2Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center, and 3Department of Agronomy; Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 Abstract Materials and Methods When “Curly Aspen” (Populus canescens) was first Preliminary Results characterized in the early 1940’s[1], it attracted the attention from the wood-products industry because Genetically engineer commercially 1) Histological sections reveal that “Curly Aspen” has strong “Curly Aspen” produces an attractive veneer as a important trees to form figure. ray flecks (Fig. 10) but this is not likely to be responsible result of its figured wood. Birdseye, fiddleback and for the figure seen. quilt are other examples of figured wood that are 2) Of the 15 SSR primer pairs[6, 7, 8] tested, three have been commercially important[2]. These unusual grain shown to be polymorphic. Others are now being tested. patterns result from changes in cell orientation in Figure 6. Pollen collection. Branches of Figure 7. Pollination. Branches Ultimately, our genetic fingerprinting technique will allow “Curly Aspen” were “forced” to shed collected from a female P. alba us to distinguish “Curly Aspen” from other genotypes. the xylem. Although 50 years have passed since Figure 1. Birdseye in maple. pollen under controlled conditions. growing at Iowa State University’s finding “Curly Aspen”, there is still some question Rotary cut, three-piece book McNay Farm (south of Lucas, IA). 3) 17 jars of female P. alba branches have been pollinated match (origin: North America).
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