Researchers from the South Dakota State University (United States) and their collaborators report the first studies on the transcriptome of prairie cordgrass (PCG) (Spartina pectinata Bosc ex Link). The study is seen to provide a "base and framework for expression and genome analysis" in PCG, for its development as second generation (i.e. lignocellulosic) biofuel feedstocks. There is interest in PCG as a potential bioenergy crop because of: (1) its ability to thrive in marginal soils that are unsuitable for conventional crop cultivation, and (2) its ability to survive in open arid prairies. An analysis of the transcriptome (i.e. the small portion of the DNA that is transcribed into molecules of ribonucleic acid, RNA) can enable scientists to determine what the particular DNA sequence can do. Plant breeders would then be able to use marker-assisted selection in order to deliberately include gene sequences that confer desirable traits. These bioenergy-crop-desirable traits include the ability of the plant to produce more fermentable carbohydrates for higher ethanol production, or the ability to grow as "low-lignin" PCG plants which could lower the cost of pretreatment. According to the researchers, "a number of molecular markers suitable for the development of molecular maps, gene identification, and comparative genomics studies have been identified", and the research results will be "utilized in collaboration with other work being performed to turn PCG into a viable cellulosic biomass crop." The full research article is published in the open-access journal, The Plant Genome (URL above)