Populus: Arabidopsis for Forestry. Do We Need a Model Tree?

Poplar as a model tree

Taylor (pp. 681-689) reviews features that make poplar a suitable model tree species. These include the anticipated release of its nuclear genome sequence by the end of 2003, a small genome size, several mapping populations, large collections of ESTs and the existence of a poplar microarray. These assets will benefit forestry and help answer a wide range of questions related to tree and ecosystem function.