Application of molecular genetic tools for forest pathology

Abstract

In recent years, advances in molecular genetics have provided powerful tools to address critical issues in forest pathology to help promote resilient forests. Although molecular genetic tools are initially applied to understand individual components of forest pathosystems, forest pathosystems involve dynamic interactions among biotic and abiotic components of the environment. More sophisticated and holistic molecular genetic approaches are now available to better understand dynamic interactions of forest pathosystems. This presentation will describe how advanced molecular genetic technologies can improve our understanding of ecosystem interactions to promote resilient forests. These molecular genetic tools include (1) molecular diagnostics for detecting, identifying, and monitoring forest pathogens and other organisms; (2) phylogenetics for determining evolutionary relationships and global distributions of forest hosts, pathogens and associated organisms; (3) population genetics for assessing population structure of forest organisms; (4) genomics for evaluating gene structure and function; and (5) metagenomics for analyzing forest communities, ecological functions, and interactions among the abiotic and biotic environment.

Citation

Kim, Mee-Sook; Hanna, John; Ross-Davis, Amy; Klopfenstein, Ned. 2012. Application of molecular genetic tools for forest pathology. Journal of Forestry. 110(8): 489.