CABBI Research

Feedstock Production: Growing the Right Crops

The scientists in this theme will 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 will be on high-yielding grasses throughout the rain-fed eastern U.S., including on marginal soils. CABBI will focus on Sorghum, Sugarcane, Energycane, and Miscanthus. Sorghum and Sugarcane are the world’s highest biomass producers with demonstrated potential for accumulation of oil in vegetative biomass after successful metabolic engineering.

STRAIGHT FROM THE SCIENTISTS: Research Profiles Offer Insight into CABBI Work

Read Postdoc Shuai Li’s profile by Jenna Kurtzweil >>>

Read Research Specialist Joe Zimmerman’s profile by Jordan Goebig >>>

Read Theme Leader Stephen Moose’s research profile by Emily Scott >>>

Stephen Moose: Theme Leader

Moose, a Professor of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has more than 20 years of experience directing projects from a wide range of funding institutions, including federal agencies such as DOE, NSF and USDA as well as from companies including Pioneer, BP, Hi Fidelity Genetics, and BASF. He develops new approaches to increase yields with lower input costs and to help mitigate environmental issues associated with nitrogen. His work reveals how genes cooperate to control plant traits important to both productivity and nutritional quality. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics and Crop Science in 1995 at North Carolina State University.

His Crop Sciences page >>>

His lab page >>>

His research profile >>>

Matthew Hudson: Deputy Theme Leader

Hudson, a Professor of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, uses supercomputing and DNA sequencing to solve problems in plant, animal, and human genetics. He employs computational biology, bioinformatics, genome sequencing, and molecular biology to study crop breeding as well as ways to treat and prevent diseases. He is interested in the genetics of crop traits and the genetic and molecular interactions of crops with pathogens, pests, and other organisms. He got his Ph.D. in Biology in 1998 from the University of Leicester.

His Crop Sciences page >>>

His lab page >>>

Kankshita Swaminathan: Deputy Theme Leader

Swaminathan, a Faculty Investigator at HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology in Huntsville, Ala., is an expert in in perennial grasses, phenotyping and applications of genomics for plant customization and modification. Her research focus is on genomic solutions to sustainable agriculture — with a particular interest in using genetics to understand the role of the rhizome (modified underground stems) in nutrient storage and reproduction, resource reallocation and perenniality in plants. Swaminathan received her Ph.D. in Biology in 2005 from Dartmouth College.