Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Bio Fuel News .




BIO FUEL
Plant genetic advance could lead to more efficient conversion of plant biomass to biofuels
by Staff Writers
Amherst MA (SPX) Jan 05, 2015


illustration only

Plant geneticists including Sam Hazen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Siobhan Brady at the University of California, Davis, have sorted out the gene regulatory networks that control cell wall thickening by the synthesis of the three polymers, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.

The authors say that the most rigid of the polymers, lignin, represents "a major impediment" to extracting sugars from plant biomass that can be used to make biofuels. Their genetic advance is expected to "serve as a foundation for understanding the regulation of a complex, integral plant component" and as a map for how future researchers might manipulate the polymer-forming processes to improve the efficiency of biofuel production.

The three key components, found in plant tissues known as xylem, provide plants with mechanical strength and waterproof cells that transport water. Working in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, Hazen, Brady and colleagues explored how a large number of interconnected transcription factors regulate xylem and cell wall thickening. Results appeared in an early online edition Dec. 24 in Nature.

An invited commentary in the journal on the significance of this discovery points out that "understanding how the relative proportions of these biopolymers are controlled in plant tissue would open up opportunities to redesign plants for biofuel use." Hazen, Brady and colleagues' study identified hundreds of new regulators and offers "considerable insight," the authors say, "into the developmental regulation of xylem cell differentiation."

Specifically, using a systems approach to identify protein-DNA interactions, they screened more than 460 transcription factors expressed in root xylem to explore their ability to bind the promoters of about 50 genes known to be involved in processes that produce cell-wall components. Hazen says, "This revealed a highly interconnected network of more than 240 genes and more than 600 protein-DNA interactions that we had not known about before."

They also found that each cell-wall gene in the xylem regulatory network is bound by an average of five different transcription factors from 35 distinct families of regulatory proteins. Further, many of the transcription factors form a surprisingly large number of feed-forward loops that co-regulate target genes.

In other words, rather than a series of on-off switches that leads to an ultimate action like making cellulose, most of the proteins including regulators of cell cycle and differentiation bind directly to cellulose genes and to other transcription regulators. This gives plants a huge number of possible combinations for responding and adapting to environmental stress such as salt or drought, the authors point out.

While this study could identify interactive nodes, the techniques used were not able to let the authors determine exactly what types of feed forward loops are present in the xylem regulatory network. However, the work offers a framework for future research that should allow researchers to identify ways to manipulate this network and engineer energy crops for biofuel production.

Link to paper plus additional Nature commentary


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bio Fuel Technology and Application News






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








BIO FUEL
EPA wants cleaner wood-burning fires, new rules expected by February
Washington (UPI) Jan 2, 2015
Wood fires still help keep many Americans warm during the winter. But if indoor wood fire burning - whether open hearth or wood stoves - aren't built or set up properly, they can negatively affect air quality and lead to health risks. The Environmental Protection Agency - in addition to drafting new rules - has offered fire-burners a series of tips to avoid excessive exposure to the ... read more


BIO FUEL
SunEdison and TerraForm Power secure financing for renewable projects

PSEG Solar Source to acquire Maryland Solar Project from juwi

KDC Solar and CentraState Medical Cut Ribbon on Solar Power System

Duke Energy acquires Halifax Solar Project in Eastern North Carolina

BIO FUEL
EPA wants cleaner wood-burning fires, new rules expected by February

Plant genetic advance could lead to more efficient conversion of plant biomass to biofuels

Guelph Researchers Recipe: Cook Farm Waste into Energy

Conversion process turns biomass 'waste' into lucrative chemical products

BIO FUEL
ConEd Development acquires wind farm on South Dakota ranch

295 MW German wind farm ready to go

Panama makes climate splash with wind energy

China snaps up UK wind farms

BIO FUEL
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Village to be hydrogen-powered: report

Chinese power companies pursue smart grids

Bettter rechargeable batteries by focusing on graphene oxide paper

Making a Good Thing Better for Lithium Ion Batteries

BIO FUEL
Energy companies investing in one another

House vows to deliver on energy promises

How Climate Change Could Leave Cities in the Dark

NYC owners should tap energy and economic benefits of cogeneration

BIO FUEL
BMW to pay subsidies Chinese dealers: report

Innate behavior determines how we steer our car

Toyota to give away fuel-cell patents to boost industry

Volvo acquires 45 percent of Chinese vehicle maker

BIO FUEL
China abolishes tobacco price controls: govt

After mastering vodka, Poland takes on black caviar

Seek muscular male with quality rump? Try online dating for bulls

Japan culls 42,000 chickens after second bird flu outbreak

BIO FUEL
China replaces rare earth quotas with export permits

Lawsuit accuses Apple of storage sleight of hand

Fukushima Radiation to Reach Peak Levels Off US West Coast in 2015

Studies on exotic superfluids in spin-orbit coupled Fermi gases reviewed




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.