It is difficult to overstate the importance of trees. Trees are essential components of the natural landscape, and play a crucial role in global carbon budgeting. Trees also form the foundation of multibillion Euro forest products industries, including the conversion of biomass to energy. Despite their importance from both environmental and economic perspectives, little is know about the mechanisms that underpin the growth and survival of trees. This is surprising, given that an understanding of these mechanisms will guide efforts aimed at ensuring the long-term maintenance of forest health, and the enhancement of forest productivity.

Recently, remarkable progress has been made in the understanding of the mechanisms that control the growth and survival in annual plants. Much of this progress has been made through the application of what it known as functional genomics. Functional genomics entails the analysis of all of the genetic material (the genome) of an organism, and then relating it to the form and function of that organism. The Human Genome Project is perhaps the best known of all genomics projects.

Through the application of the cutting-edge tools of genome analysis, a comprehensive picture of the genes and cellular processes involved in many aspects of plant growth and development is emerging. This includes seed germination, biomass production, flower formation, disease resistance and stress responses. The knowledge obtained in these studies points the way forward for strategies aimed at enhancing the quantity and quality of wood for desired end-uses; or to enhance the ability of trees to adapt to environmental stresses such as pollution and climate change. What is required to realise these goals is a link between this basic plant biology and forest biology. This link is currently being forged.

In Europe, several large programs have recently been initiated that are aimed at the large-scale analysis of tree genomes. These efforts include the functional genomics of wood formation, tree growth, flowering, disease resistance and adaptation to environmental change. These efforts will create invaluable publicly accessible databases on model tree genomes, such as poplar, birch, eucalyptus, and pine. These databases will constitute a platform for tree biologists for the transfer of basic knowledge created in annual model plants, to an understanding of forest trees. The tools that are now available through the analysis of tree genes and proteins could have a profound effect on the capacity to improve forest productivity and monitor forest health. Due to the substantial lag time between seed germination and sexual maturity, trees have not been as amenable to the traditional breeding approaches that have been so useful in the improvement of short-lived crops like maize. The availability of the tools of molecular and cellular biology, coupled with genetics, will enhance the opportunities for and the rate of tree improvement. This can be achieved both by using molecular markers as early selection criteria in traditional breeding, and through genetic engineering if this becomes more accepted by the public in the future. Beyond this, these same tools can be used as precise diagnostics to monitor forest productivity and health.

The challenge is to ensure that the investment that has been made in basic research truly adds value to economically important tree species. It is imperative that forest biologists are able to make the connection between gene sequence and gene function, so as to capitalise on all of the genome data that has been generated. It is for this reason that forest scientists are poised to take advantage of the incredible genome databases, to enhance our understanding of tree productivity and survival.