Despite
their ecological and economic importance, very
little is known about the molecular genetic mechanisms
that underpin tree growth and development. Over
the last decade, Dr. Campbell has been involved
in research aimed at filling this gap in knowledge.
For example, Dr. Campbell was instrumental in
initiating one of the first expressed sequence
tag efforts for a forest tree, and has also been
engaged in research aimed at understanding how
individual genes affect tree growth and development.
Recently, the Campbell group has investigated
the function of genes that were predicted to have
profound effects on plant architecture and resource
allocation, including members of the TERMINAL
FLOWER / CENTRORADIALIS family of phosphatidylethanolamine-binding
factors, and the KNOX family of transcription
factors. Recent work has begun to explore the
genes that regulate cambium dormancy during wood
formation. This latter study is novel in that
it bridges arabidopsis genomics with poplar genomics
- treating arabidopsis as a model "tree"
to increase the rate and precision of hypothesis
testing in the less genetically tractable species,
poplar.
In addition, recent work in the Campbell lab
has also aimed to develop new tools to investigate
gene function in poplar. A large amount of time
is required for the rigorous assessment of the
phenotypic effect of a gene and its implications
in an ecological context. Recently, plant viruses
have provided a useful and rapid means by which
to analyse plant gene function. Virus-based genetic
engineering systems take advantage of the natural
ability of viruses to express, replicate, and
transmit their genetic material throughout the
host plant. Insertion of foreign genes into the
viral genome can be used to express a foreign
gene throughout a plant. It might be possible
to establish a similar system for trees, provided
an appropriate viral vector could be identified.
The Campbell lab has been testing the possibility
that poplar mosaic virus (PopMV) may be ideal
in this regard. The group has sequenced the entire
PopMV genome, and initiated studies aimed at understanding
how PopMV propagates in the host, and how the
host responds to the virus. The latter analyses
have involved microarray-based transcript profiling,
and are amongst the first investigations of the
response of the poplar transcriptome to any pathogen.
Personnel:
Dr.
Christian Dubos
Publications
PSmith CM, Campbell
MM (2003) Poplar mosaic virus: a gene
function analysis system for trees.
Publications (personnel supervised
by Dr. Campbell are underlined):
Smith CM, Campbell
MM (2004) Complete genome sequence of
poplar mosaic virus. Archives of Virology (in
press) (BBSRC & CellFor funded)
Smith CM Rodriguez-Buey
M, Karlsson J, Campbell MM (2004) The response
of the poplar transcriptome to wounding and subsequent
infection by a viral pathogen. New Phytologist
(in press) (BBSRC & CellFor funded)
Smith CM Campbell
MM (2004) Populus genotypes differ in
infection and systemic spread of Poplar mosaic
virus (PopMV) Plant Pathology (in press) (BBSRC
& CellFor funded)
Collins AJ, Campbell
MM. Characterisation of TFL1-like genes
from eucalyptus. (Shell funded) - text and figure
editing required, to be submitted 05/04
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