The Mighty Oak, King of the Forest

The oak, a symbol of strength and courage, is truly the king of French forests. Oak trees take up no less than 40% of the surface area of these forests. 

Oak trees belong to the Quercus genus and can be divided into many different species: the pedunculate and sessile oak can be found at the heart of European forests; the cork and evergreen oak in the Mediterranean; the scarlet or swamp oaks in the Americas …

After three years of hard work, 12 pairs of chromosomes and 50,000 genes sequenced, the pedunculate oak recently revealed the secrets of its genomes. This was a major first for the species and a breakthrough for economic, environmental, and social development in many countries.

Having been around for 56 million years, oaks have diversified. The data gleaned from the peduncular oak genome are brimming with information: these data allow us to retrace the story of this oak's evolution and identify the genes that play a vital role in enabling it to adapt to its environment.

Forced by climate change to journey into the future! We're headed out to the American West where oak species have evolved to be more drought-resistant in order to thrive in more arid environments. Even today, they have potential!

An oak tree in spring

An oak tree in summer

An oak tree in fall

An oak tree in winter