Lynette Taylor
Lynette Taylor
Forest and Wood Products Australia Award Winner
Read all about it…wood fibre under the microscope
The next time you sit down to read your favourite newspaper or magazine spare a thought for the science that helped create them.
Lynette Taylor, a PhD research scientist at the University of Melbourne, says that some wood types are more suited to producing paper than others.
“It all depends on the characteristics of the wood, particularly the microfibril angle (MFA) in the cell walls,” she said.
“Wood with a low MFA increases pulp tensile strength and makes stronger paper, whereas a high MFA increases the stretch and tear indices, making the paper more elastic.
“Therefore, wood fibre quality is extremely important for pulp and paper production as it determines the end use of the plantation timber.”
But Lynette said that little is still known about the genetics of wood fibre formation in eucalypts, particularly the genes that control MFA. “Through glasshouse experiments, I aim to identify if genes involved in wood formation affect MFA,” she said.
“I will use poplar, with its readily available genomic resources, as a model tree system to guide the investigation of the function of these genes in both eucalypts and poplar tree species simultaneously.”
Lynette will also compare the wood fibres in plants grown under glasshouse conditions with those grown in plantations, to establish tangible links between the genotypic and phenotypic properties.
If successful, Lynette’s project could lead to molecular markers for wood fibre quality being developed. And these could then be used in commercial tree-breeding programs to match specific characteristics with specific uses.
“It is important to invest in plantation research to meet future demands of this industry, harness the properties of Australia’s biological resources and reduce the pressure on Australia’s native and old growth forests.”
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