= Quercus suber
{c}
<Quercus suber>, the cork oak, is an evergreen <tree> native to the western Mediterranean region. Its thick <bark> supplies commercial <cork>, which can be harvested repeatedly when the living layers needed for regeneration are preserved.<Quercus suber in Plants of the World Online>[General information: description, distribution and cork harvesting]{ref}
<Cork> consists of protective <tissue> whose <cell walls> contain <suberin>, a material that limits <water> loss. This makes <Quercus suber> a useful system for investigating how a <plant> builds an external barrier. Comparing <gene expression> in developing <cork> with expression in <xylem> identified candidate <genes> associated with <suberin> synthesis and tissue differentiation.<A Genomic Approach to Suberin Biosynthesis and Cork Differentiation by Marçal Soler and others>[2007, abstract: cork versus wood comparison]{ref} The commercial material is therefore also a tractable product of a specific developmental programme.
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