01/15/2012
Bioenergy Plants Database
Summary
Plant feedstocks for next-generation biofuels (e.g., lignocellulosic biomass) will come from many different sources depending on the geographic region and will likely include high biomass-producing species such as switchgrass, pine, poplar, and sorghum. Genome-enabled tools promise to facilitate breeding efforts to maximize biomass quality and yield in these plants; however, most of these species lack a complete genome sequence and many have only limited genetic tools available. To enable genome-based improvement of lignocellulosic biofuel feedstock species, researchers at Michigan State University, with support from the joint USDA-DOE Plant Feedstocks Genomics for Bioenergy program, have developed the Biofuel Feedstock Genomics Resource (BFGR). This web-based portal and database contains data from 54 bioenergy-relevant plant species, together with annotation and tools that allow identification and analysis of genes important for improvement of bioenergy traits, molecular marker analysis, and mapping to specific biochemical and metabolic pathways. Importantly, the database provides comparative analysis tools to allow scientists investigating species that lack a genome sequence to identify critical genes and develop experimentation to determine gene function. The BFGR will provide a valuable resource for plant breeders to use in improving bioenergy feedstocks for biofuel production.
References
Childs, K. L., K. Konganti, and C. R. Buell. 2012. “The Biofuel Feedstock Genomics Resource: A Web-Based Portal and Database To Enable Functional Genomics of Plant Biofuel Feedstock Species,” Database, DOI:10.1093/database/bar061.