The largest genus in the conifer family Pinaceae is Pinus, with over 100 species. The size and complexity of their genomes (∼20-40 Gb, 2n = 24) have delayed the arrival of a well-annotated reference sequence. In this study, we present the annotation of the first whole-genome shotgun assembly of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), which comprises 20.1 Gb of sequence. The MAKER-P annotation pipeline ...

Changing environmental conditions have the potential to alter allometric relationships between plant parts, possibly leading to ecosystem-level feedbacks. We quantified allometric shifts in field-grown loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) in response to altered resource availability based on data from multiple harvests to correct for size-related changes in biomass partitioning. A replicated factoria...

A reference karyotype is presented for loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L., subgenus Pinus, section Pinus, subsection Australes), based on fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), using 18S-28S rDNA, 5S rDNA, and an Arabidopsis-type telomere repeat sequence (A-type TRS). Well separated somatic chromosomes were prepared from colchicine-treated root meristems, using an enzymatic digestion technique. S...

MOTIVATION A crucial problem in genome assembly is the discovery and correction of misassembly errors in draft genomes. We develop a method called misSEQuel that enhances the quality of draft genomes by identifying misassembly errors and their breakpoints using paired-end sequence reads and optical mapping data. Our method also fulfills the critical need for open source computational methods fo...

Clonal production of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) through somatic embryogenesis has great potential to meet the increasing industrial demands for highquality uniform raw materials. A major barrier to the commercialization of this technology is the low quality of resulting embryos. Twenty-five newly initiated loblolly pine genotypes were followed through the process of liquid culture establish...

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are important enzymes for generating some of the enormous structural diversity of plant terpenoid secondary metabolites. In conifers, P450s are involved in the formation of a suite of diterpene resin acids (DRAs). Despite their important role in constitutive and induced oleoresin defense, a P450 gene of DRA formation has not yet been identified. By using p...

Many models to predict tree height from diameter have been developed, but not all are equally useful. This study compared a set of height-diameter models for loblolly (Pinus taeda) and shortleaf (Pinus echinata) pines from Ashley County, Arkansas. Almost 560 trees ranging in diameter at breast height (DBH) from 0.3 cm (both species) to 91.9 cm (for shortleaf) or 108.2 cm (for loblolly) were cho...

Land use and fire exclusion have influenced ecosystems worldwide, resulting in alternative ecosystem states. Here, I provide two examples from the southeastern United States of fire-dependent open pine pine-oak forest loss examine dynamics replacement forests, given continued long-term declines foundation longleaf (Pinus palustris) shortleaf echinata) pines recent increases commercial loblolly ...

Seeds of loblolly pine, Pinius taeda L., and of wlhite pine, P. strob!s L., which require a long moist treatment at a low temiiperature (stratificationl) for conmplete germination, were chosen for this study. Seeds of the former species require 30 to 90 days at 2 to 3 C and those of the latter 30 (lavs at 10 C or 60 lays at 4C (27). The purpose of the work was to investigate responses of these ...

Fraedrich, S. W., Cram. M. M.. and Handoo. Z. A. 2003. Suitabiliiy of southern pines. other selected crops. and nutsedge to a O~?~qicloru.s sp. associated with stunting of loblolly pine seedlings. Plant Dis. X7: 1129-l 132. An undescribed needle nematode (Longirlonrs sp.) has been associated with severely stunted loblolly pine seedlings at a south Georgia nursery. Containers with selected crop ...