News
USDA and DOE Fund New Projects for Biomass Genomics Research
Departments of Energy and Agriculture jointly selected 7 projects for awards totaling $6.3 million for biobased-fuel research. [July 22, 2009]
USDA and DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement
Departments of Energy and Agriculture have jointly issued a research funding opportunity. Preapplications due Dec. 9, 2008.
Plant Feedstock Genomics for Bioenergy
DOE and USDA Biomass Genomics Research
The
Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office
of Biological and Environmental Research has teamed with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) Cooperative
State Research, Education, and Extension Service National Research Initiative
to fund projects that accelerate plant breeding programs and improve biomass
feedstocks by characterizing the genes, proteins, and molecular interactions
that influence biomass production. The goal is to lay the groundwork for
a new class of fuels, called biofuels, derived from lignocellulosic biomass
materials—the fibrous, woody, and generally inedible portions of plant
matter.
Biomass feedstocks are fast-growing trees, shrubs, and grasses [see Candidate Bioenergy Feedstocks: Overview] that are bred for the specific purpose of producing energy (electricity or liquid fuels) from all or part of the resulting plant. The rationale for developing such feedstocks for energy is that less intensive production techniques and marginal or surplus agricultural lands can be used for these crops, thereby avoiding competition with food production on better quality land. Consequently, identifying the genes that facilitate tolerance and survival during exposure to drought, freezing, and other abiotic stresses is vital.
Additionally, for biofuels to become economically viable as mainstream fuels, the total amount of lignocellulosic biomass produced per acre per year must be maximized, as does the amount of fuel produced per unit of biomass. At the same time, these crops must be environmentally sustainable, requiring far fewer inputs—pesticide and herbicide applications, fertilizer, water, and the use of energy-consuming farm equipment—than are needed, for example, for the corn and soybean crops currently used to produce ethanol and biodiesel.
Major agricultural crops grown today for food, feed, and fiber in the United States have not been bred for biofuels, so many carefully selected traits—such as a high ratio of seed to straw production—are disadvantageous in biofuel production. However, significant advances in breeding, molecular genetics, and genomic technologies provide an opportunity to build upon the existing knowledge base of plant biology to be able to confidently predict and manipulate the biological function of biomass feedstocks for bioenergy resources.
To capitalize on this potential, DOE and USDA initiated a competitive grant program in 2006 to support fundamental research in biomass genomics. Ultimately, the research seeks to develop and demonstrate environmentally acceptable crops and cropping systems for producing large quantities of low-cost, high-quality biomass feedstocks. Specific areas of interest include:
- Elucidating the regulation of genes, proteins, and metabolites to manipulate lignocellulosic materials for improved productivity, processing, or growth characteristics in marginal environmental conditions, such as drought or salt tolerance.
- Developing novel technologies to facilitate the analysis and manipulation of cell wall structure and composition for both breeding and basic research.
- Using genomic approaches that lead to the identification of genetic markers enabling more efficient plant breeding or manipulation.
- Enhancing fundamental knowledge of the structure, function, and organization of plant genomes leading to improved biomass characterization.
See current and previous awards:
Text largely adapted from Breaking
the Biological Barriers to Cellulosic Ethanol: A Joint Research Agenda,
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science and Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy, June 2006, DOE/SC-0095.
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