The black cottonwood is a tree common to western parts of North America. Although closely related species are common in other parts of the world. This species has a couple features making it an interesting model organism for biology. The genome size is only 4x that of Arabidopsis. Techniques for high-throughput transformation are available, that in combination with the genome sequence become valuable tools to create transgenic plants. As the cottonwood can grow on marginal lands, where it is commonly used as windbreaks, it can also be used as a crop for second generation bio-fuels.

Publication:
Tuskan, G.A. et al. The genome of black cottonwood, Populus trichocarpa (Torr. & Gray). Science 313, 1596-604 (2006).