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Review of the Research Strategy for Biomass-Derived Transportation Fuels (1999)

Chapter: Appendix E: Major Components of a Poplar Genomics Initiative

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix E: Major Components of a Poplar Genomics Initiative." National Research Council. 1999. Review of the Research Strategy for Biomass-Derived Transportation Fuels. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9714.
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APPENDIX E Major Components of a Poplar Genomics Initiative

If the U.S. Department of Energy decides to focus more of its resources on the biotechnology of feedstock crops, genomics would be a logical subject for research. In the following discussion, the tools, type of experiments, and target traits for a major genomics project in a bioenergy crop are outlined using poplars as an example. These structural genomics studies would provide the tools for mapping and isolating a large number of genes. With this foundation, many different kinds of traits could be studied, and experiments could be performed to determine their roles and use them in breeding or genetic engineering. All of the options outlined below do not have to be undertaken to make progress in this area; however, a significant program to study a single feedstock species is likely to entail a recurring annual cost of at least $2 million for a number of years.

A comprehensive genomics project should have the following components: structural genomics, materials for studying trait variation and expression, and functional genomics.

  • Structural Genomics. The establishment of tools for studying and mapping genes, such as large sequence databanks, genome maps, and high-efficiency transformation methods.

  • Materials for Studies of Trait Variation and Expression. The development of large, carefully designed pedigrees and field experiments and other experimental materials based on trait expression, in which genes for key traits can be either mapped or directly identified via differential expression.

  • Functional Genomics. Experiments for mapping and isolating genes for valuable traits via fine-mapping, intensive studies of gene expression via microarray panels, synteny comparisons to model organisms, and high-throughput transformation.

STRUCTURAL GENOMICS

The following components could be included in the area of structural genomics:

  • dense microsatellite-based genetic marker maps

  • dense expressed sequence tag sequence banks

  • physical mapping via bacterial artificial chromosomes

  • expression chips (microarrays) of the majority of genes in the genome

  • physical map synteny relationships with Arabidopsis

  • high-throughput transformation methods

  • high-throughput single-nucleotide polymorphism map arrays

MATERIALS FOR STUDY OF TRAIT VARIATIONS AND EXPRESSIONS

Research on materials for the study of trait variations and expressions could include the following subjects:

  • traits on segregating pedigrees and field trials in hybrid and intraspecific pedigrees

  • ribonucleic acids from tissues with contrasting trait expression (e.g., distinct tissues and ages)

  • phenotypic targets of economic importance and distinct expression in woody plants-heterosis and yield

Suggested Citation:"Appendix E: Major Components of a Poplar Genomics Initiative." National Research Council. 1999. Review of the Research Strategy for Biomass-Derived Transportation Fuels. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9714.
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  • wood chemistry and structure

  • disease resistance

  • shoot phenology and stress tolerance

  • maturation, flowering onset and sterility, and rootability

FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS

Research on functional genomics could include studies in the following areas:

  • high-precision quantitative trait loci analysis and synteny-based candidate gene selection

  • transformation tests of candidate genes selected from expressed sequence tag banks

  • complementation, suppression, and overexpression tests of identified genes via transformation

  • large population of activation-tagged transgenic trees to directly identify genes for diverse traits

  • additional bacterial artificial chromosome libraries for trait-specific experiments

Suggested Citation:"Appendix E: Major Components of a Poplar Genomics Initiative." National Research Council. 1999. Review of the Research Strategy for Biomass-Derived Transportation Fuels. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9714.
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Page 47
Suggested Citation:"Appendix E: Major Components of a Poplar Genomics Initiative." National Research Council. 1999. Review of the Research Strategy for Biomass-Derived Transportation Fuels. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9714.
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The Office of Fuels Development (OFD), a component of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Transportation Technologies, manages the federal government's effort to make biomass-based ethanol (bioethanol) and biodiesel a practical and affordable alternative to gasoline. Through the National Biomass Ethanol Program, the OFD is overseeing key research and development (R&D) and industry-government partnerships for the establishment of a cellulosic biomass ethanol industry. Cellulosic biomass resources being investigated include agronomic and forest crop residues, woody crops, perennial grasses, and municipal wastes. Starch-based sources, such as cereal grains (e.g., corn grain), are not included in this program. The objective of the program is to promote the commercialization of enzyme-based technologies to produce cost-competitive bioethanol for use as transportation fuel.

The OFD requested that the National Research Council estimate the contribution and evaluate the role of biofuels (biomass-derived ethanol and biodiesel) as transportation fuels in the domestic and international economies, evaluate OFD's biofuels strategy, and recommend changes in this strategy and the R&D goals and portfolio of the OFD in the near-term to midterm time frame (about 20 years). During this period, a number of complex, interacting factors, including advances in the technologies used to produce biofuels at a competitive cost, the elimination of tax incentives, advances in vehicle and engine technologies, growing concerns about solid waste disposal and air pollution, and global measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, will affect the position of biofuels in transportation fuel markets.

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