An updated perspective: what genes make a tree a tree?
We learn early on how to tell trees apart from other plants. However, it has proved hard to distinguish trees from other plants at the genetic level, and it is believed that there are no unique 'tree genes'. With the rapid increase in available tree genomes, we can perform new comparative and evolutionary analyses of plant life histories and growth forms. Here we provide a fresh perspective on the genetic foundation for woodiness and perenniality in angiosperms by analyzing selection pressures and gene family evolution in the rosids using genomic data. We examine genes distinguishing trees from herbs and discuss future directions for uncovering the genetic factors that define a tree in this new era of tree genomics.
Authors
- María Rosario García‐Gil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6834-6708)
- Siri Birkeland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8104-8537)
- Torgeir Rhoden Hvidsten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6097-2539)
- Ewa J. Mellerowicz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6817-1031)
- Shruti Choudhary (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6146-7224)
- Sonali Sachin Ranade (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2950-3763)
- Hannele Tuominen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4949-3702)
- Nathaniel R. Street (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6031-005X)
- Vikash Kumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1670-3491)
- Eduardo R Soldado
Institutions
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE)
- Umeå Plant Science Centre (SE)
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NO)
- Umeå University (SE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Trends in Plant Science
- Published
- 2025-10-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2025.09.006
- Primary Topic
- Plant Gene Expression Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas
- Norges Forskningsråd