Danforth Plant Science Center awarded $12 million to study drought as part of the effort to develop next generation bioenergy grasses

ST. LOUIS, MO, July 18, 2012 (Press-News.org) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a five year, $12.1 million grant to researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and their collaborators at the Carnegie Institution for Science, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the University of Minnesota and Washington State University to develop a new model plant system, Setaria viridis, to advance bioenergy grasses as a sustainable source of renewable fuels.

Drought is the number one stress crops endure which limits yield and is of growing concern due to the globe's diminishing water supply and climate change. This year, extreme heat and lack of rainfall combined with the mild winter has resulted in an all-time low in soil moisture and is producing new challenges for our nation's farmers. Reduced yields will likely spark a rebound in global food prices. Drought conditions also have a major impact on crops that serve as sources of bioenergy.

Bioenergy grasses hold promise to provide a sustainable source of renewable fuels for the U.S. economy and reduce our dependence on foreign petroleum. These dedicated second generation bioenergy crops can be grown on marginal lands and with fewer inputs than traditional row crops such as corn, which requires energy intensive annual planting and the addition of chemical fertilizers. Bioenergy grasses require water just like all other crops and the next generation of bioenergy crops will need to be bred for important characteristics including drought resistance and other properties that will make them more productive.

To engineer bioenergy grasses with the desirable traits needed for large scale production, it is necessary to develop model plant systems that are closely related to bioenergy feedstocks, but which are more amenable to genetic analysis. One of the most promising model species is the grass Setaria viridis.

"What we learn in improving bioenergy grasses in many cases can also be applied to cereal crops to improve their productivity. Setaria viridis, the model species that will be used as the focus of our research, is closely related to corn and Brachypodium, another model grass of interest at the Danforth Center that has a genetic makeup similar to wheat," said Dr. Tom Brutnell, director of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels who is serving as Principal Investigator on the grant.

Brutnell and his colleagues will utilize genomic, computational and engineering tools to begin the genetic dissection of drought and density response in S. viridis. The research team will produce one of the most extensive molecular characterizations of plant growth in the field to date, generating several million data points that will be collected from physiological and molecular genetic studies. In doing so, they hope to discover the mechanisms that underlie drought responses and identify candidate genes and pathways for improving the closely related feedstock grasses. The ability of bioenergy feedstocks to use water efficiently and to produce abundant yields at high density will be major drivers in the development of improved varieties that can serve as a replacement for petroleum-based fuels.

Co-PIs/Senior Personnel, Institutions on the grant include:
Ivan Baxter, USDA-ARS/Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Asaph Cousins, Washington State University
Jose Dinneny, Carnegie Institution for Science
Andrew D.B. Leakey, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Todd Mockler, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Hector Quemada, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Seung (Sue) Rhee, Carnegie Institution for Science
Daniel Voytas, University of Minnesota

About The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research at the Danforth Center will feed the hungry and improve human health, preserve and renew the environment, and enhance the St. Louis region and Missouri as a world center for plant science. The Center's work is funded through competitive grants and contract revenue from many sources, including the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center invites you to visit its new website, http://www.danforthcenter.org, featuring interactive information on the Center's scientists, news and research, including the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels, the Center for Advanced Biofuel Research, and the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts. Public education outreach, RSS feeds and the brand-new "Roots & Shoots" blog help keep visitors up to date with Center's current operations and areas of research. Follow us on Twitter at @DanforthCenter.