Yesterday, I took time from BIO2009 in Atlanta to meet some colleagues at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. Given my relative proximity to Athens (compared to Edmonton that is), it seemed like the logical thing to do, and the 90 minute car ride against rush hour traffic made things a breeze. It was relaxing to drive along the heavily tree lined freeways, especially since I was escaping the snow back home. I was there to pick up some materials, but as it happened my trip coincided with the harvest of a pine tree which only happens once every year or two. They nicely allowed me to pitch in a get my hands back on something scientific other than a quarterly report. What I also received was an alternate definition of ‘large scale genomics’, working on a tree that was approximately 40 years old.
 

In this case, harvesting a tree is not as simple as cutting it down and saying you’re done. There was specific tissue collection involved which involved highly technical procedures including chainsaws, chisels and a special ‘tool’ dedicated to bark stripping. First, tree disks (also known as bolts) are scored with a chainsaw (precision cutting for sure). Then the bark is carefully separated from the remainder of the tree to reveal the inner transport tissues (xylem and phloem) in a process that resembled peeling a giant orange. These tissues are then scraped off with a razor blade to yield material for molecular biology and genomic research. Working on a single plant would be hard enough, but imagine this on the size and scale of a mature tree!! However from one harvest, enough material gets generated to last for over a year.

While the work was hard, the team was extremely efficient and easily carried me as I learned the trade. Luckily, the weather was good for the harvest, unfortunately a little too good. As spring has just begun in Edmonton, sunscreen didn’t even make it into my luggage and by the end of the day I had a fresh set of sun tans/burns that will act as a great souvenir. I have to say thanks Dr. Dean for letting me jump in, everyone his lab for making me feel extremely welcome, and to Walt Lorenz for organizing the day’s festivities and showing me the ropes. It was a wonderfully different experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it!! Here is a slide show of the pictures from the trip, enjoy.

 

P.S. - Despite the post at the bottom saying it came from Mike Spear, Tria Project Manager Matt Bryman is actually the wandering woodsman. We just couldn't make the line disappear.