Introduction
Plant scientists in Umeå were among the first groups in the world to establish a routine protocol for transformation of a forest tree, hybrid aspen. Since then several groups within UPSC have established highly recognised research within developmental tree biology and forest biotechnology. In spite of the time-consuming work to produce and characterise transgenic clones of woody plants, thousands of independently transformed transgenic trees have been processed over the last years. Trees altered in their hormonal balance, light perception and oxidative status have served as excellent experimental material for studying the biology of wood, shoots and roots, as well as annual rhythms and stress responses. Exciting findings include trees with longer fibres, altered cycles of activity and dormancy and increased stress responses. In addition to hybrid aspen, scientists within UPSC use Arabidopsis in their functional genomics research. This species is naturally easier and faster to work with, and the general approach taken is to make most basic studies in this organism. Genes for evaluation in hybrid aspen can then be selected with care for specific targets relevant for woody plants and forest biotechnology. The large scale sequencing of poplar ESTs performed as collaborative effort between UPSC and Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, has generated over 100 000 ESTs that together with our poplar microarrays serve as a base for in depth  functional genomics research on Poplar. A core facility was established over 10 years ago in Umeå to facilitate the production of transgenic trees for scientists within Scandinavia. At present the activity is booming and within the academic world, the production of transgenic trees at UPSC is one of the most efficient in the world. Technical support is given to supply the Scandinavian scientists with plant material,  perform transformation and to maintain the cultures.

 

Organisation
3 persons works  in the facility, Marie Nygren (60%), Gunilla Malmberg (50%) and Alexander Makoveychuk (50%). The facility is subsidised by the programme for plant development (Foundation for Strategic Research) and Wallenberg Consortium North (WCN), but is  also dependent on fees to cover part of the salary costs and consumables. Therefore a predetermined fee structure is used  for UPSC and WCN members (see below).  A steering committee, Göran Sandberg (chair), Rishi Bhalerao and Catherine Bellini leads the work and also make scientific priorities so that all UPSC- and WCN-groups get a fair chance to get access to this support.  The steering committee meets twice a month together with the staff to plan the work.

 

In order to use the facility you must fill in a request form (will be available on UPSCs homepage) where you state what type of service you request (see below). The group leader must be informed before you submit your application. This you have to do at least two weeks in advance to . 

 

Contact information:

 

Steering committee

 

Staff

 

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