BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Can genomics impact forestry? - Richard Buggs\, Queen Mary Univers
 ity of London
DTSTART:20150219T130000Z
DTEND:20150219T140000Z
UID:TALK56934@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:38889
DESCRIPTION:As we increasingly depend upon the world’s forests for renew
 able energy and building materials\, global trade in live plants is spread
 ing pests and pathogens that threaten forest trees. We need tree breeding 
 to boost productivity of forest plantations\, and to increase tree resista
 nce to pests and pathogens. The size and generation time of trees makes br
 eeding programmes expensive and time consuming. This talk will outline the
  potential and challenges of the application of genomics to forest tree im
 provement. Genetic marker assisted selection at juvenile stages may offer 
 greater efficiency gains for tree breeding than (even) for agricultural cr
 op and animal breeding. However\, resources for genetic-trait studies – 
 such as inbred lines\, mapping populations\, and large phenotyped populati
 ons –  are hard to generate for trees. While conifers typically have ver
 y large genomes of over 10Gbp\, impeding genome assembly and re-sequencing
  studies\, broad-leaved trees typically have genomes of less than 1Gbp in 
 size making them much more amenable to genomic technologies. One efficient
  way to identify candidate genes for resistance to a pest/pathogen may be 
 by phylogenomic study of convergent evolution\, within tree genera where s
 ome species have co-evolved with that pest/pathogen. Current work on ash (
 Fraxinus) trees in the UK will be reviewed as a case study for the applica
 tion of genomics to host-pathogen interactions.
LOCATION:Department of Plant Sciences\, Large Lecture Theatre
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR