Plant scientists from the University of Nottingham have been awarded funding to investigate new ways to overcome challenges in breeding British Oak trees to help secure their future.
The research will identify key hormones and chemicals in the rooting process of Oak to open up new ways to breed this tree, providing solutions for propagation quality and production quantity.
The £ ½ million funding has been awarded by the Forestry Commission as part of their Tree Production Innovation Fund and supports the government's bold plan to increase tree cover in England to 16.5% of land by 2050.
Oak trees are a vital part of the ecosystem, having been found to support around 2300 different wildlife species and are important providers of timber for long term wood products. However, getting enough seedlings to meet tree planting goals is proving a challenge and growing them from cuttings is difficult which is why new solutions are needed.
Dr Amanda Rasmussen from the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham is leading the project and will work with partners from Future Trees Trust, Natural England and Niab. She said: "Creating new plants from cuttings is widely used for garden and commercial plant production because it's quicker than seed-raising and captures disease resistance. This makes cutting propagation an excellent way to produce high numbers of resilient trees.
"However, some trees are challenging to propagate by cuttings. Oak is one of these and despite many years of work, grafting is still used to obtain better trees for breeding purposes. This is problematic, with some grafts failing even 10 years later.
"Part of the challenge is that cuttings from older trees (ones old enough that we know they feature good traits) are often less likely to produce roots on the cuttings. Another problem is that flower induction signals often prevent rooting, but very little is known in UK broadleaf tree species."
The team have had rooting success on some trees (like Beech) using plant hormones like auxin that are common in commercially available rooting gels, but oak has proven resistant to these treatments.
To understand this, along with identifying the flower induction signals, the team will compare genes and chemicals made by plants that are expressed in young (root-able) and old (not root-able) cuttings. They will develop new techniques using microCT imaging that can see root initials developing within the cuttings.
Key chemicals that are identified linked to rooting could then be developed into new rooting protocols, while key genes will be useful markers to tell if a tree is more likely to root from cuttings.
Jack Clough, Grant Manager: Nature for Climate, Forestry Commission England said: "Advancing our understanding of the hormonal and genetic factors behind rooting is key to unlocking large-scale propagation of species like oak. This research will provide practical insights that can transform how we produce resilient planting material for future forests. It supports the Tree Production Innovation Fund's goal to boost productivity and resilience in tree production, ensuring high-quality, diverse stock for treescapes that can withstand climate change and disease."
Protecting the future of the Oak tree is vitally important as it faces increasing challenges from climate change and disease. We hope that by perfecting the combinations of new growing protocols on UK broadleaf trees including Oak, we will fast-track large scale production, helping secure the future of these important and beautiful British trees.
National Tree Week takes place from the 22 - 30 November to highlight the importance of trees and Dr Rasmussen is delivering a public lecture on the 20th November that will explore the science of tree propagation and the challenges it presents.
