New Zealand Journal of Forestry (2015) 60(1): 23–25
©New Zealand Institute of Forestry

Feature article
New Zealand forestry enters the genomics era - applications of genomics in tree breeding

Yongjun Li ¹, Emily Telfer ² and Phillip L. Wilcox <sup>3

1</sup> Scientist, Scion, Rotorua
² Research Leader, Scion, Rotorua
³ Senior Scientist, Scion & part-time Senior Research Fellow, University of Otago

Genomics is a word you have probably been hearing a lot about in recent years. Lately, new techniques for capturing genomic information have exploded across the science landscape, making it cheaper and easier to create huge amounts of information about how genes work and how they interact with the environment. In humans and in many important agricultural and forestry species, variations in DNA sequences have been found that are associated with traits, which are the specific characteristics or properties of an organism. This is the basis for genomic selection - an accelerated breeding process currently being used by the sheep and dairy industries in New Zealand and in other countries, and increasingly being introduced into agricultural and horticultural plants and tree species. At a time when forestry is competing with other primary industries for land use, we need to make the most of every opportunity to increase the quality and competitiveness of the forests we grow in New Zealand by fully using genomic tools.
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