No abstract

Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil are expanding toward the northern and mid-western regions of the country. The objective of the present study was to select clones adapted to the local conditions, with a focus on the Cerrado region. Three clonal experiments were conducted in the municipalities of Catalão, Corumbá-de-Goiás, and Luziânia, in Goiás State, with 109 genotypes of eucalypts. The experimental design consisted of a randomized complete block design with single-tree plots and 29 blocks. Diameter at breast height and total height of all trees were measured four years after planting, for use in the estimation of wood volume for each genotype. The genotype × environmental interaction was significant and predominantly (74%) complex. The genotypic correlation among environments was moderate (< 0.47), indicating that clones should be selected for specific sites. However, some clones performed relatively well across all environments, such as clones CCL21, CCL30, AEC144, CCL07, and CCL35.

Humanity is faced with an enormous challenge in the coming decades. The world’s population is rapidly growing and we need to produce enough food, fuel, medicine and goods to support this growth in an environmentally sustainable and restorative way. Plants will inevitably provide many solutions to the problems we face, but we need to build environmentally sustainable, carbon-negative industries as soon as possible. Applying protein engineering to accelerate the development of improved crop varieties that can produce more while using less is a promising approach. Here we provide an introduction to the approaches, tools and philosophy of protein engineering, as well as several examples of problems in plant breeding and engineering that protein engineers are currently working to solve.