Strategies to mitigate shifts in red oak (Quercus sect. Lobatae) distribution under a changing climate.

Red oaks (Quercus sect. Lobatae) are a taxonomic group of hardwood trees, which occur in swamp forests, subtropical chaparral and savannahs from Columbia to Canada. They cover a wide range of ecological niches, and many species are thought to be able to cope with current trends in climate change.

Overexpression of a developing xylem cDNA library in transgenic poplar generates high mutation rate specific to wood formation.

We investigated feasibility of the Full-length complementary DNA OvereXpression (FOX) system as a mutagenesis approach in poplar, using developing xylem tissue. The main goal was to assess the overall mutation rate and if the system will increase instances of mutants affected in traits linked to the xylem tissue. Indeed, we found a high mutation rate of 17.