Transcriptome reorganization during wood maturation in Pinus radiata

Wood maturation produces two distinct wood tissues: juvenile wood (JW) and mature wood (LW), which are the major cause of wood qaulity variation within a tree. We investigate transcriptome reorganization during wood maturation process in radiata pine using a newly developed 18k cDNA microarrays. Developing xylem tissues from nine sampled trees at 5- and 13-year-old each were randomly divided into three groups with three trees each. Total RNA samples extracted from three trees within a group were pooled at equal amount before using for microarray experiments. Using this pooling strategy three biological replicates were formed for each microarray experiment. Dye swap was applied in each biological replicate. Comparisons between JW and MW in spring (EW) and autumn (LW) were arranged in two separate microarray experiments: juvenile earlywood (JE) vs. mature earlywood (ME), juvenile latewood (JL) vs. mature latewood (ML)