USDA, DOE Award USD 6.3 M for Functional Genomics and Bioenergy Research

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Energy (DOE) have a total of $6.3 million to fund projects that will accelerate plant breeding programs and improve biomass feedstocks for biofuel production. The USDA and DOE said that these projects will hopefully provide the scientific foundation to facilitate the use of lignocellulosic materials for bioenergy and biofuels. Since lignocellulosic crop plants are less intensive to produce and can grow on poorer quality land, competition with crops grown for food production is avoided.

"Part of the solution to the energy problem will be home-grown energy crops," DOE Secretary Steven Chu said. "These projects will help us unlock the true potential of advanced biofuels, decrease our dependence on foreign oil, and create new jobs and a thriving biofuels industry in America."

The award recipients include:

• Two research teams from the University of Georgia in Athens working on the molecular biology of Miscanthus and improvement of alfalfa as a biofuel feedstock,
• Scientists at the University of Florida working to characterize the genes that regulate the balance of carbon going to cellulose or lignin,
• Researchers at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln developing nitrogen-use efficient sorghum, and
• A team from the Michigan Technological University studying the genome of Populus to identify regulators of root architecture in relation to nitrogen and water use.

 For more information, read http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov/research/DOEUSDA/DOEUSDA0709pressrelease.pdf