A
research group of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), led by Luis
Gómez, a professor of the Forestry School and the Centre for Plant
Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP), is studying the tolerance of trees using
molecular and biotechnological tools. The research work was published in the
last issue of the journal Plant Physiology.
The obtained poplars in this project, with the
collaboration of the Universidad de Málaga, are significantly more tolerant to
high temperatures than the control trees. These trees are also more tolerant to
drought, to the presence of weed-killer, to in vitro and ex vitro crops, to
contamination and other ways of abiotic stress that have an applied interest
for forestry. This work is a continuation of a project started by of a research
team of the UPM a decade ago. This study focuses on mechanisms that plant cells
use to protect themselves from stress factors.
Due to the human pressure on forests, the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is promoting intensive
plantations as an alternative to meet the global demand of wood and other
products. Besides, plantations have social and economic benefits (job creation,
wealth and rural development). This model change has significant ecological
consequences.
The role of forests is essential for climate
change mitigation and biodiversity preservation, amongst others. A documentary
"El Bosque Protector," co-produced by the UPM and available on
"A la Carta" of RTVE shows the result of this study. Tree farming
plantations as a realistic alternative will be possible if the current yield
significantly increases. But, global warming hinders this goal due to the
losses in the agricultural sector for the last decade. Besides, a recent
multidisciplinary study published in Nature Climate Change journal reveals
that global warming is also accelerating deforestation of the planet.
"The genetic and biochemistry complexity of
the tolerance mechanisms to high temperatures has hindered positive results so
far," said Luis Gómez. "Our work confirms that it is possible to
obtain positive results if we focus on fundamental protective mechanisms which
are present in living beings. They are so fundamental that the obtained poplars
in this work can resist other stress factors." Due to economic losses
associated to these factors, this work of the researchers of UPM can contribute
to increase yields and, consequently to mitigate the current pressure on
forests.
Source; Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
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