Researchers in this theme employ the “plants-as-factories” paradigm, in which biofuels, bioproducts, high-value molecules, and foundation molecules for conversion are synthesized directly in plant stems. This plants-as-factories approach circumvents the challenges of developing efficient lignocellulose deconstruction methods, while still retaining residual biomass for deconstruction by traditional or emerging methods. The main thrust of projects focuses on high-yielding grasses throughout the rain-fed eastern U.S., including on marginal soils. This includes sorghum, Saccharum, and miscanthus. Sorghum and Saccharum are the world’s highest biomass producers with demonstrated potential for accumulation of oil in vegetative biomass after successful metabolic engineering.
The Challenges
- Dedicated biomass crops typically have only one major end use (bioenergy), which decreases market flexibility
- Low economic value of plant biomass increases economic risk on the farm
- Conversion of lignocellulose to biofuels or bioproducts is inefficient
The Solutions
Feedstock Production researchers use natural and engineered genetic variation to understand and improve the composition and productivity of sorghum, miscanthus, and Saccharum that will provide high value to all by:
- Engineering carbon allocation to produce oils, specialty fatty acids, and other organic compounds
- Increasing biomass yield, resource use efficiency, and stress resilience to reduce risk for farmers in today’s and tomorrow’s climate
- Maximizing the environmental benefits of bioenergy crops and products across the eastern US
The Goals
- Enhance tools to efficiently engineer and explore gene function (F1)
- Accelerate discovery of the genetic and genomic basis for valuable phenotypes (F2)
- Innovate designs for oil-based high-value bioproducts in CABBI crops (F3)
- Advance genomic understanding of the grass stem and tools to modify it for bioenergy (F4)
- Accelerate engineering of genes for maximum yield, environmental resilience, and resource use efficiency (F5)
