Scientists in Oklahoma have uncovered a plant gene that could allow much more biomass material to be grown within a certain agricultural space.
Researchers at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Ardmore said the discovery could mean farmers and ranchers producing a greater amount of feedstock for biofuels and electricity generation without taking up more land.
Postdoctoral fellow Huanzhong Wang found a gene that controls the production of lignin in the central portions of the stems of Arabidopsis and Medicago truncatula, species commonly used as models for the study of plant genetic processes.
Lignin is a compound that provides the strength in cell walls, giving plants the ability to stand upright.
When the newly discovered gene is removed, there is a dramatic increase in the production of biomass, including lignin, throughout the stem.
Plant research has traditionally aimed to reduce lignin in plants in order to make them more suitable for grazing by animals – but increasing the amount of lignin in plants would mean more material for other uses, like energy production.
“Breakthrough”
Richard Dixon, director of the Noble Foundation’s Plant Biology Division, said it was a “significant breakthrough”.
He said: “The potential increase in biomass in these new plants could be dramatic. This technology could make plants better suited to serve as renewable energy sources or as renewable feedstocks to produce advanced composite materials that consumers depend on every day.”
Further research, working with the University of Georgia, revealed that removal of the gene can also increase the production of carbohydrate-rich cellulose and hemicellulose material in portions of the plant stem.
These are the components of a plant that are converted to sugars to create advanced biofuels, such as cellulosic-derived ethanol or butanol.
“Science often progresses in increments,” Dr Dixon said. “Every once in a while, though, you have a significant breakthrough that helps redefine the research. This is certainly one of those moments for our advanced feedstock program.”
Supported by the United States Department of Energy and the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, the research has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
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