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 Houghton, Mich. - Genetic
engineers at Michigan Technological University have found a way to make
aspen trees produce red wood. They may be able to make other commercial
tree species produce red wood as well. The discovery could lead to important
changes in the wood products industry.
And it all came about through serendipity, according
to Dr. Vincent Chiang, director of the MTU School of Forestry and Wood Products'
Plant Biotechnology Center. Chiang is renowned for his work in genetically
altering lignin in wood pulping species to make the pulping process less
costly and more environmentally safe for the wood products industry.
Chiang credits his postdoctoral researcher, Chung-Jui
Tsai, with the discovery. "She was working on a project to develop
genetic engineering procedures for aspen and in the process introduced two
different genes to aspens that were designed to alter their lignin to make
it easier for pulping. When she peeled away the bark of our test saplings,
she found that one of the genes had manifested itself by causing the saplings
to produce red wood instead of the usual white."
While the success of the lignin research could provide
significant breakthroughs for the forest products industry worldwide, Chiang
notes that it lacks the charisma of colored aspen.
"You don't have to analyze the red aspen,"
said Chiang, "you just look at it, and there it is."
"Usually you have to wait for years for results,"
said Tsai. "We just pulled back the bark, and wow! Even a kid can tell."
Chiang said the new aspens are a salmon color, rosier than cedar, less red
than redwood-a color he describes as "very distinguished." And
it varied from tree to tree, in hue, intensity, and design. "Some of
the saplings were mottled, spotted like a dalmatian, red and white,"
he said.
And the new color won't sink back into the gene
pool, never to be seen again. MTU researchers have already produced a second
group of colored saplings started from cuttings taken from the first samples.
Chiang has talked with four wood products corporations
about growing the red aspens and "They've all responded vigorously."
Aspen has never been a popular wood for lumber.
"It's a kid of boring, white color," said Chiang. "Now it
will have other uses." He counts the ways. "Furniture, exposed
beams, paneling. . . I'm looking forward to the day when I won't have to
paint the house."
Chiang, Tsai, and their colleague, Dr. Gopi Podila
want to gain a fundamental understanding of how the color change takes place
in aspens. And they also want to try out their red wood gene on other species
since it affects a genetic pathway that's common to many hardwoods.
The researchers have applied for a license from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture to plant the red aspens outside, so they
can be studied as they grow to maturity in a natural environment.
This technology is available for licensing
through the
MTU Intellectual Properties Office:
Contact Sandy Gayk at (906) 487-3429 or by e-mail: sgayk@mtu.edu.
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