Forest genetics researchers to sequence and catalog conifer genes for future biofuels research

Jeffrey Dean, professor of forest biotechnology in the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, is spearheading a project at the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute (JGI) that will greatly expand the gene catalog for pines and initiate the first gene discovery efforts in five other conifer families.

The project will be a significant piece of the JGI's Community Sequencing Program, which focuses state-of-the-art genome analysis resources on biological organisms that have implications for helping wean dependence on fossil fuel. An international team of scientists coordinated by the JGI recently succeeded in sequencing the genome of the poplar tree, seen as an important bioenergy crop (earlier post). Other crops under investigation are Eucalyptus, cassava, sorghum as well a wide range of microorganisms that could be used for bioconversion processes (overview and more on sequencing bacteria, here).

The wood from conifers will almost certainly be an important component of this nation's biomass energy strategy. but despite extensive commercial plantations they remain essentially an undomesticated species. Information from this project will greatly enhance the ability of our tree improvement programs to develop pines tailored to suit the needs of the future bioenergy industry. - Jeffrey Dean, professor of forest biotechnology, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

The goal of Dean's research is to produce a comprehensive catalog of all the genes expressed as conifers grow, develop and respond to their environments. By comparing genes expressed by different conifer species in similar tissues under similar conditions, scientists will be able to more quickly identify the key genes controlling tree growth and development. Such studies will also improve our understanding of the formation of biomass components such as lignin that impede production of biofuels from lignocellulosic materials, including wood.

Although the JGI recently produced a complete genome sequence for poplar, the first woody perennial plant species so characterized, that information has certain limitations for comparison to conifer species, which diverged from poplars and other flowering plants while dinosaurs still dominated the Earth:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: conifers :: lignocellulose :: genomics :: energy crops :: plant biology :: Joint Genome Institute ::

Complete sequencing of a conifer genome is still a ways off since their genomes are typically enormous, but a complete catalog of expressed conifer genes would still be a watershed for our ability to study, predict and understand how conifer genetics have contributed to the survival of these magnificent trees through hundreds of millions of years.

While final details on specific species and numbers of sequences are still being worked out, Dean, the lead investigator, and his four co-investigators David Neale (University of California, Davis), Glenn Howe (Oregon State University), Kathleen Jermstad (USDA Forest Service) and Deborah Rogers (Center for Natural Lands Management), will focus much of their initial efforts on loblolly pine, a conifer native to the southeastern United States and a species that by itself is responsible for approximately 16 percent of the world's annual timber harvest.

Loblolly pine is a primary target for this research project because of its current commercial importance in the southeastern United States, as well as its potential for providing biomass to future biofuels markets, Dean said.

Other targeted species for the project include coast redwood, one the fastest growing conifers, and Wollemia nobilis, a species related to the Norfolk Island pine that was thought extinct until a small grove was discovered in Australia in 1994. More than fifty research laboratories from around the world have pledged their support for this project. They, along with many others, will benefit from immediate access to all gene sequences from the project, all of which will be available online as they are produced at JGI.

Picture: loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). In the Southern U.S. there is more timberland - at least 182 million acres - than cropland and pasture combined. Approximately one-third of the South is covered with pine trees. Loblolly pine is by far the most abundant species, grown commercially for timber. With the advent of second-generation bioconversion technologies, the biomass crop becomes an important biofuel source.

References:
University of Georgia: UGA forest genetics researcher leads effort to sequence and catalog conifer genes for future biofuels research - August 17, 2007.

Biopact: Joint Genome Institute announces 2008 genome sequencing targets with focus on bioenergy and carbon cycle - June 12, 2007

Biopact: U.S. DOE to sequence the DNA of six photosynthetic bacteria to make biofuels - October 11, 2006