DOE Grant Research Award to Study Drought for Next Generation Bioenergy Grasses

In the United States, extreme heat and lack of rainfall combined with mild winter resulted in low soil moisture affecting crop production for food and fuel in affected areas. Only a few plant species can thrive in this drought-like condition including bioenergy grasses, considered as second generation sustainable source of renewable fuels. However, bioenergy grasses need to be bred to become drought resistant to make them more productive in marginal areas.

To this end, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in collaboration with Carnegie Institution for Science, the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, the University of Minnesota and Washington State University, under the grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) will develop a new model plant system, Setaria viridis, to advance bioenergy grasses as a sustainable source or renewable fuels. The five year $12.1 million grant will cover research on genomic, computational, and engineering tools to study drought and density response in S. viridis, which may be applicable to other bioenergy grasses and other important crops as well.

See the news at http://www.danforthcenter.org/wordpress/?p=10281