林木遗传工程及木质素的生物合成调节(英文)

林木遗传工程有利于保存林木遗传资源，改善全球气候，减轻自然林的过度采伐和满足人类日益增长的林木产品需求。控制林木真菌、病毒病、虫害和杂草的遗传工程方法正被广泛地研究和应用。尽管转基因林木的历史不长，种类不多，但它有广泛的应用前景。目前，抗除草剂基因、抗虫基因以及和木材质量相关的基因已被分离并应用于林木遗传工程。植物分子生物学和基因组学中的新技术使得高效林木遗传改良成为可能并将促进这些技术的商业化应用。木质素的应用已有一百年的历史，但木质素生物合成的全过程并不完全清楚。有关松树自然突变体和转基因林木的最新研究结果表明，木质素的生物合成是一个可以调节的过程。这些发现对完善木质素的生物合成途径、加深对木质素前体生物合成途径的理解和通过遗传工程改善木材质量有促进作用。本文综述了林木遗传工程在这些领域中取得的一些进展。

Genetic engineering and lignin biosynthetic regulation in forest tree species

Genetic engineering of forest tree species is regarded as a strategy to reduce worldwide pressure on natural forests, to conserve genetic resources and ameliorate stress on global climate, and to meet growing demand for forest wood and timber products. Genetic engineering approaches toward the control or management of fungal pathogens, arthropod herbivores, bacterial and viral diseases, the use of pest resistance genes, and weed competitors are being studied. Although the production of transgenic trees is relatively recent and only a few species have been successfully genetically engineered in forest tree species, very useful and valuable information is available on the application of transgenic trees. Genes involved in important agricultural traits such as herbicide resistance, insect resistance, and wood quality have been isolated and have been used to genetically engineer trees. New technologies of plant molecular biology and genomics now make it possible high-efficient genetic improvement of forest trees. Genetic engineering promises to expand greatly the potential for genetic manipulation as new genes of commercial interest are discovered and utilized. Lignification is a process essential to the nature and evolution of vascular plants that is still poorly understood, even though it has been studied for more than a century. Recent studies on mutant and transgenic plants indicate that lignification may be far more flexible than previously realized. Pines with a mutation affecting the biosynthesis of the major lignin precursor, coniferyl alcohol, show a high level of an unusual subunit, dihydroconiferyl alcohol. It is also unusual as a plant polymer in that there are no plant enzymes for its degradation. These results have significant implications regarding the traditional definition of lignin, and highlight the need for a better understanding of the lignin precursor biosynthetic pathway. In this review, we describe the progress made recently in genetic engineering of forest tree species.