This processing was important in that DNA

This processing was important in that DNA has to be taken apart to be studied, and then reassembled for further research. Short sequences removed from the
whole are easier to study, but putting them back together is a difficult puzzle and takes more time and computing power than studying the sequences
themselves. The work done by the University of Maryland made it possible for the geneticists at UC Davis to tackle the entire massive genome of the loblolly
much more quickly than expected.

Previously, studying an entire genome of that size was impossible for current computational technology. Cracking this genetic code made the pine family a
record-holder yet again, producing not just the oldest known trees but the species with the longest genome ever explored thus far.

When the loblolly code was cracked, it was via a multi-university effort. Under UC Davis’ lead, many institutions lent manpower and computational resources
to the endeavor. The U.S. Department of Agriculture supported the work. Johns Hopkins contributed to University of Maryland’s pre-processing efforts, while
Texas A&M, Indiana University of Bloomington, Washington State University, and Children’s Hospital Research Institute in Oakland all aided in the genome
study along with many independent researchers. The results of the massive undertaking were published in two journals; the scholarly Genetics, and Genome
Biology, which is an open-access journal. In this way, the research was openly shared as it progressed.

It is difficult to overstate the significance of this breakthrough for industry. Understanding the loblolly pine’s resistance to disease will help farmers
breed stronger strains of the species for production of wood products and for use in the new loblolly-based biofuel industry. The completed genome also
offers a fuller understanding of the evolution of the species and of plants in general, of how they function in their environments over long periods of time,
and how they interact with humans, animals and climates. The loblolly pine now joins fellow record-holder, the bristlecone pine tree, in superlatives, with
the longest genome ever studied now standing beside the oldest tree to exist.