Polyploidy

A common and natural phenomenon in plants is chromosome doubling or polyploidy. More than two-thirds of all plant species are suspected of having passed through one or more rounds of chromosome doubling during their evolutionary history, including many economically important species such as the wheat, potato, cotton, soybean, and sugar cane. Polyploidy in many such plants is a natural phenom enon driven by mankinds' quest for everything bigger and better. Only recently has the economical importance of forestry trees surfaced, along with the potential for genetic improvement of trees carrying            mainly wild — state genetic information. Many important forestry trees, have not had the focus of 2000 years of plant breeding and together with the long life cycle of many woody perennials, has left many forestry crops relatively untouched by man’s need for improvement. Hence the vast potential for improved growth of forestry trees by creating polyploid genotypes.