The wood-forming vascular cambium is responsible for the production of a large part of the biomass on this planet. Yet, there is only limited knowledge on how cell proliferation and differentiation in the cambial meristem are regulated. In this thesis the wood-forming tissues of aspen were used as a model system to identify and characterize molecular factors related to cambial meristem activity. An important regulator of cambial meristem activity is the plant hormone auxin. As polar transport is crucial for the delivery of auxin to the cambial zone, we identified homologues of known regulators of polar auxin transport and described their regulation by environmental and developmental factors. Translating changes in auxin concentration into changes in gene expression involves members of the Aux/IAA gene family. Aspen homologues of Aux/IAA genes were cloned and found to be expressed in a highly tissue-specific fashion, which is further influenced by developmental events and changes in the environment. A major response of trees to environmental changes is the suspension of meristematic growth during winter dormancy. A comparison of gene expression in active and dormant cambia revealed dramatic changes in the transcriptome including the expression of many cold and stress related genes during winter. During the process of wood formation, cells originating in the vascular cambium go through an elaborate process of cell division, cell expansion, secondary wall formation and programmed cell death. Large-scale analysis of gene expression was used to create transcriptional maps of the differentiation process. This extensive dataset allowed us to confirm the proposed functions of various genes involved in wood formation, assign other known genes to specific stages along the developmental gradient and identify a large number of novel potential regulators of wood formation. The data further suggest that the cambial meristem shares regulatory mechanisms with other meristems in addition to its own, specific factors
