Soile Jokipii-Lukkari

I am a plant molecular biologist particularly interested in wood formation. Sustainable forest management has a key role in a society relying on renewable materials while achieving carbon-neutral economic growth. The current demand for wood biomass and carbon sinks highlights the importance of knowledge-based forest management, and therefore, the information on genes controlling wood formation is especially valuable. The coniferous wood consists mainly of tracheids of which structure, lifespan and chemical characters differ significantly from the xylem cells of hardwoods. However, it is not known which molecules are causing the differences in the wood of conifers and hardwoods. Thus, my project aims to increase the resolution of the knowledge that concerns the gene expression during the initial stages of tracheid formation. In addition, my group studies, among other things, the molecular biology of wild berries and aims to develop DNA-based authentication methods for berry products.