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What puts the curl in curly birch?
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Contact:
Jim Mattsson, 604.291.4291; jim_mattsson@sfu.ca (jim_mattsson@sfu.ca)
Diane Luckow, 604.291.3219
Jim Mattsson, 604.291.4291; jim_mattsson@sfu.ca (jim_mattsson@sfu.ca)
Diane Luckow, 604.291.3219
November 28, 2003
Discovering the genetic traits that cause trees like curly birch to manifest decorative patterns in their wood fiber may lead to new value-added wood products in the B.C. forest industry.
SFU assistant biology professor Jim Mattsson recently received a $400,000 grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to help build a new centre for plant molecular breeding at SFU. The 800 square meter (8600-square-foot) greenhouse would be specially designed and equipped for research like Mattsson’s, which involves growing and containing genetically modified plant materials.
Mattsson’s research goals are to determine the genetic traits that result in distinctive wood patterns, and also to develop the technology to propagate existing but rare tree variants, such as curly birch and bird’s eye maple.
"Currently, scientists have no clue how trees form decorative wood patterns," says Mattsson, pointing to the distinctive grain of curly birch. "Once we have identified the genes responsible for wood formation, we may be able to modify trees into producing novel and possibly more decorative wood."
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Electronic photo available
SFU assistant biology professor Jim Mattsson recently received a $400,000 grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to help build a new centre for plant molecular breeding at SFU. The 800 square meter (8600-square-foot) greenhouse would be specially designed and equipped for research like Mattsson’s, which involves growing and containing genetically modified plant materials.
Mattsson’s research goals are to determine the genetic traits that result in distinctive wood patterns, and also to develop the technology to propagate existing but rare tree variants, such as curly birch and bird’s eye maple.
"Currently, scientists have no clue how trees form decorative wood patterns," says Mattsson, pointing to the distinctive grain of curly birch. "Once we have identified the genes responsible for wood formation, we may be able to modify trees into producing novel and possibly more decorative wood."
-30-
Electronic photo available