The Biotechnology of Urban Trees

Abstract

Trees are some of the most difficult plants to manipulate in breeding and improvement programs. Plant biotechnology offers a unique set of tools that allows the plant breeder heretofore unprecedented ability to precisely change and clone such woody perennials. Although the future of biotechnology of trees is revolutionary, there are some major problems that must be solved before the full potential of this technology can be applied to urban tree improvement. Nevertheless, major advances in genetic transformation, cloning, and regeneration of trees have been recorded in the last few years; continued progress will depend on the effort applied to tree biotechnology and to determining the physiological/genetic bases of urban tree growth and ecology.