From DAVID J JAMES
I read with interest the article by Debbie Macklin concerning the future
of our rainforests (‘A nursery for the rainforest’, 2 December).
It seems that she is out of date (or has talked to people who are) when
she talks about ‘genetic engineers turning their attention to trees in the
future’. Viable transgenic trees of three broad-leaved species, poplar,
walnut and apple, have already been regenerated and in the case of poplar
the trees have been released into the environment (in the US) for studies
on their performance.
Foreign genes were transferred to all three species using Agrobacteria-mediated
transformation procedures. Poplar was transformed nearly three years ago,
and was quickly followed by walnut a year later and, most recently, by our
own work on apple last year (Plant Cell Reports, 1989, vol 7, p 658).
David J. James Institute of Horticultural Research East Malling, Kent
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