DOE, USDA Plant Feedstock Genomics Awards to ASPB Members Support Needed Basic Research in Biomass Genomics Leading to Cellulosic Fuels

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, National Research Initiative have jointly selected 10 projects for awards totaling $10 million for biobased-fuel research. These awards continue a commitment begun in 2006 to conduct fundamental research in biomass genomics that will establish a scientific foundation to facilitate and accelerate the use of cellulosic plant material for bioenergy and biofuels.    The awards were announced by USDA Research, Education and Economics Under Secretary Gale Buchanan and DOE Under Secretary for Science Raymond Orbach.

“USDA is committed to fostering a sustainable domestic biofuels industry at home in rural America,” Buchanan said.  “These grants will broaden the sources of energy from many crops as well as improve the efficiency and options among renewable fuels.”

Orbach commented, “Cellulosic biofuels offer one of the best near- to mid-term alternatives we have on the energy production side to reduce reliance on imported oil and cut greenhouse gas emissions, while continuing to meet the nation’s transportation energy needs.  Developing cost-effective means of producing cellulosic biofuels on a national scale poses major scientific challenges – these grants will help in developing the type of transformational breakthroughs needed in basic science to make this happen.”

A 2005 report by DOE and USDA – “Biomass as Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry:  The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply” – found that there is enough renewable biomass in the nation to displace more than one-third of the transportation fuels (primarily gasoline from imported oil).  Considering one out of every four barrels of oil used in the world is burned in the U.S., primarily by cars and trucks,  renewable biomass-derived fuels represent a huge contribution to the nation’s future energy security.  

In 2008, DOE will provide $8.8 million in funding over 3 years, while USDA will award $2 million over 3 years.  Following is information on each grant award:

"Development of Genomic and Genetic Tools for Foxtail Millet, and Use of These Tools in the Improvement of Biomass Production for Bioenergy Crops"

• University of Georgia, $1,295,000
• Principal Investigator: ASPB member Jeff Bennetzen
• Co-Principal Investigators: Katrien Devos; Andrew Doust (Oklahoma State University); ASPB member Janice Zale (University of Tennessee)

Project Goal: This project will generate a variety of genomic and genetic tools for foxtail millet, including SNPs, BAC libraries, optimized foxtail millet transformation technology, and a high density QTL and genetic map of foxtail millet for significant biomass traits. These resources will complement the DOE Joint Genome Institute whole genome sequencing of foxtail millet, enhancing its value as a functional genomic model for second generation bioenergy crops such as switchgrass.

"Identifying Genes Controlling Ferulate Cross-Link Formation in Grass Cell Walls"

• Pennsylvania State University, $587,191
• Principal Investigator: Marcia Maria de Oliveira Buanafina
• Co-Principal Investigators: ASPB member David Braun, Doug Archibald

Project Goal: This project will investigate the regulation of ferulic acid cross-linking in the cell walls of Brachypodium distachyon, and generate a saturated EMS mutant population for forward genetic studies in this model bioenergy crop.

"Computational Resources for Biofuel Feedstock Species"

• Michigan State University, $540,000
• Principal Investigator: ASPB member C. Robin Buell
• Co-Principal Investigator: Kevin Childs

Project Goal: This project will provide computational tools and resources for data-mining of genome sequence, genome annotation, and large-scale functional genomic datasets available for biofuel feedstock species.  Such species include candidates within the Poaceae, Pinaceae, and Salicaceae families, for which a diversity of genome sequence resources currently exist, ranging from whole genome sequences to modest EST transcriptome datasets.

"Translational Genomics for the Improvement of Switchgrass"

• Purdue University, $1,200,000
• Principal Investigator: ASPB member Nick Carpita
• Co-Principal Investigator: ASPB member Maureen McCann

Project Goal: This project will study the cell walls of grass species, performing bioinformatics analyses on cell wall biosynthetic genes in maize, and annotation of switchgrass orthologs.  The project will also generate mutants in selected candidate cell wall-related genes, with direct analysis of saccharification of maize and switchgrass cell wall mutants.

"Identification of Genes That Regulate Phosphate Acquisition and Plant Performance During Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis in Medicago Truncatula and Brachypodium Distachyon"

• Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, $882,000
• Principal Investigator: ASPB member Maria Harrison
• Co-Principal Investigator: ASPB member Matthew Hudson (University of Illinois)

Project Goal: This project will identify genes controlling arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, as well as key factors regulating gene function and the acquisition of key nutrients such as phosphate. The results will provide mechanistic and molecular-level understanding of plant-fungal partnerships in natural ecosystems and their role in maintaining a terrestrial soil environment for sustainable biofuel production. 

"Systems Level Engineering of Plant Cell Wall Biosynthesis to Improve Biofuel Feedstock Quality"

• University of Massachusetts, $1,200,000
• Principal Investigator: ASPB member Samuel Hazen
• Co-Principal Investigator: ASPB Member Todd Mockler (Oregon State University), ASPB member Steve Kay (UC San Diego)

Project Goal: This project will identify and characterize cell wall biosynthetic regulatory genomic binding sites, using reverse and forward genetic approaches with candidate transcription factors in Brachypodium and Arabidopsis, two model plant systems.  The results will contribute to our understanding of key tissue-specific and developmental regulators of plant cell wall biosynthesis in monocot and dicot bioenergy crops. 

"Identification of Genes that Control Biomass Production Using Rice"

• Colorado State University, $1,500,000
• Principal Investigator: ASPB member Jan Leach
• Co-Principal Investigators: ASPB member Dan Bush, John McKay; Hei Leung (IRRI)

Project Goal: This project will provide an integrated breeding and genomics platform to identify biomass traits in rice, for translation to second generation bioenergy grasses such as switchgrass and Miscanthus.

"Genomics of Wood Formation and Cellulosic Biomass Traits in Sunflower"

• University of Georgia, $1,200,000
• Principal Investigator: Steven Knapp
• Co-Principal Investigators: ASPB member Jeff Dean, ASPB member Joe Nairn; Laura Marek (Iowa State University), Mark Davis (NREL)

Project Goal: This project will develop genomic resources for woody biomass trait identification in hybrid sunflower, a species that is extremely drought tolerant. This fundamental knowledge will complement the existing body of work on this species with respect to oilseed production.

"A Universal Genome Array and Transcriptome Atlas for Brachypodium Distachyon"

• Oregon State University, $1,200,000
• Principal Investigator: ASPB member Todd Mockler
• Co-Principal Investigator: ASPB member Todd Michael (Rutgers University)

Project Goal: This project will develop an Affymetrix genome tiling array, based on the DOE Joint Genome Institute sequence of Brachypodium distachyon, and make the array available for broad community use. The investigators will use the array to generate an expression atlas representing major developmental stages or stress responses in Brachypodium, a model species for polyploid, perennial grasses with complex genomes, such as wheat and switchgrass.

"Epigenomics of Development in Populus"

• Oregon State University, $1,200,000
• Principal Investigator: ASPB member Steven Strauss
• Co-Principal Investigators: ASPB member Todd Mockler, Michael Freitag

Project Goal: The project will study the role of chromatin modification (epigenetics) in the regulation of development and dormancy induction in poplar and other woody species. The investigators will characterize changes in DNA methylation patterns on specific tissues during dormancy induction and poplar development.