Genome-wide responses to drought in forest trees

Abstract

Drought is a significant threat to forest health and the establishment of productive tree plantations. There is therefore great interest in understanding the mechanisms underpinning drought responses in forest trees. This review considers the means by which plants in general, and forest trees specifically, both detect and respond to water limitation. The review focuses on molecular-level responses to a drought stimulus, with an emphasis on responses that involve genome-wide reconfigurations in transcript abundance and protein complement in forest trees. A historical view of the molecular analysis of such responses shows a remarkable transition from understanding the impact of drought on individual genes to a more comprehensive picture of the suites of genes and proteins that constitute a drought response. Attention is paid to how this understanding might further the aims of preserving forest health and improve plantation productivity. The review suggests that genome-wide analysis of forest tree drought responses can be leveraged to provide new tools for conservation of adaptive variation and targets for selective breeding or directed modification of forest tree genotypes that can better contend with future drought scenarios. © Institute of Chartered Foresters, 2011. All rights reserved.