Professor Yrjö Helariutta presents the potential of tree biology in dendroengineering at his inaugural lecture

On Tuesday, 10 February at 16:15, Yrjö Helariutta, Professor of Molecular Dendroengineering at the University of Tartu, will give his inaugural lecture titled "From Tree Biology to Dendroengineering" in the university's assembly hall. The lecture will be in English. The event will be streamed live on UTTV.

Forests have a key planetary role in carbon sequestration. Tree volume in temperate and boreal regions has increased over the last decades, and these regions are the main sinks for excess atmospheric carbon, thus acting as a force against accelerated climate change. Unravelling the carbon sequestration in trees and its potential improvement to mitigate climate change is a complex, multiscale problem, which requires knowledge from and interaction between impressively many branches of science and society.

In his inaugural lecture, Yrjö Helariutta outlines his approach for understanding and enhancing the carbon sink effect in trees at a molecular level. Phloem is the conductive tissue that transports various organic molecules from the green source tissues to non-green sink tissues. The sink tissues, such as wood or various edible sink organs, often have an important applied value for the human population. His group has pioneered the understanding of phloem morphogenesis and engineering vascular stem cell function in plants. As an ERA Chair holder he discusses the recent breakthrough in genome-wide technologies, which has facilitated an expansion of the research from the laboratories to the forests.

Yrjö Eero Helariutta is Professor in Molecular Dendroengineering at the Institute of Bioengineering, University of Tartu. He obtained his PhD at the University of Helsinki, carried out his post-doctoral work at New York University/New York Botanical Gardens and has been acting as a Professor in Plant Development at both the University of Helsinki and the University of Cambridge. He is currently the Director of the Centre of Excellence in Tree Biology by the Research Council of Finland.

The aim of the inaugural lecture is to give the new professor an opportunity to introduce himself, his specialisation and field of research. At the end of the public lecture, the audience can ask the professor questions. Everyone interested is welcome.