August 13, 2003

Applying Our Clonal Propagation Technologies to Gardening Trees
(Eucalyptus gunnii)

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd.

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (President: Takahiko Miyoshi), Japan's leading paper and pulp manufacturing company and a core member of the Nippon Unipac Holding Group, has successfully applied its proprietary clone propagation technologies to create clone plantlets of Eucalyptus gunnii, a gardening tree.
 
Nippon Paper Industries had already previously established three key technologies and introduced them as world-class innovations. These technologies include: (1) Mass tree propagation using tissue cultures; (2) A rooting technique using photoautotrophic cultures* under non-aseptic conditions; and (3) Mass production technology based on low temperature storage. Each of these technologies was designed for clonal propagation of selected elite trees fast to grow and suited to pulping for Eucalyptus globulus, which is cultivated in the overseas planting business that Nippon Paper Industries operates on a global scale.
 
Eucalyptus gunnii is a species of eucalyptus. With round and silvery leaves, it is a gardening tree used in flower arrangement and for bouquets. In Japan, it is mainly produced in Ehime and Shizuoka Prefectures and approximately more than two million fresh cut branches are shipped. It is inherently difficult to artificially root eucalyptus, and Eucalyptus gunnii is no exception. It therefore is grown from seeds, however this approach inevitably generates some variation in character. In 1995, the Forestry Science Laboratory of Nippon Paper Industries attempted clonal propagation and succeeded in rooting Eucalyptus gunnii by photoautotrophic cultures in response to a request from Japan Agricultural Cooperative (JA) Ehime. This paved the way for mass production of outstanding lineages. In the five-year period from 1999 to 2003, it has conducted experimental cultivation of over 30,000 clone plantlets. Homogeneous with positive growth and form, they have earned marks in the fresh flower market.
 
In addition, Nippon Paper Industry has achieved, for example, clonal propagation of cherry trees, known as Japan's national flower, in just a single month. The company will take every opportunity to apply its clonal propagation technologies to various types of trees.
 
* Photoautotrophic cultures: a method of culturing plants with only carbon dioxide, water and light and without using sugar nutrition, achieved by enhancing the photosynthetic capacity of plants.

<i>Eucalyptus gunnii</i>
Eucalyptus gunnii