WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Researchers have deciphered for the first time the genetic code of a tree, which could lead to new varieties better at producing wood, paper and fuel.

The work could vastly increase cultivation of the black cottonwood, a fast-growing poplar already used by the timber and paper industries. Details of the analysis of the tree’s DNA, performed by researchers in eight countries, appear this week in the journal Science.

The black cottonwood is still considered “wild,” even though it’s grown for lumber and pulp. Fifteen years from now, fully domesticated varieties of the tree – optimally tuned to grow faster and longer, better resist insects and disease, and require less water and nutrients – could be growing like any other crop on tree farms.