Better Biofuels from Mapping of Plant Genes

Wood and other biofibers made of plant cell walls are the most abundant form of feedstocks available for biofuel production. These biofibers are digested to yield sugars that are then fermented to make biofuels. But plants have strategies to inhibit being digested. For instance, plants'cell walls have acyl components that act as barriers to hinder conversion of the fibers to sugar. Acyl groups can also form cross-linked networks that make cell walls extra strong. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered a family of genes in Arabidopsis and woody poplar (Populus trichocarpa) that control the formation of cell wall-bound acyl groups. By tweaking these genes, the scientists may one day be able to engineer crops more amenable to biofuel production.

Chang-Jun Liu and colleagues observed pairs of genes that were inversely overlapped with their neighboring genes on the genome. The protein-coding molecules (RNA) produced by these genes bind to each other like a molecular Velcro. The binding would prevent the RNA from building its enzyme, so the expression of one gene in the pair appears to inhibit its partner. Liu believes that understanding this anti-sense regulation will help scientists regulate the production of acyl groups.

The complete article is available at http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=928 The paper published by Plant Molecular Biology is available to subscribers at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11103-009-9482-1