CEAT Hub members, Gondwana Genomics, in collaboration with China Eucalypt Research Centre (CERC), recently undertook a research project where Gondwana’s DNA marker technology was used to predict the performance of Eucalyptus pellita trees. Gondwana were able to show the great accuracy of their technology to predict growth and wood traits of E. pellita trees using prediction models with unrelated trees.
Eucalyptus pellita is a popular plantation tree species not only in tropical Australia but also in many countries in SE Asia as it has superior resistance to pests and diseases, is fast growing, is adaptable to a range of tropical environments and can be used for a number of wood products including pulp and paper and sawn timber.
As E. pellita is so widely grown in plantations there has been a large demand in finding new ways to improve the trees performance traits and shorten its breeding cycle.
The results of this project have been published in the reputed peer-reviewed journal G3, which you can read in full here.