01/27/2010
Finding Rice Stress Response Genes to Improve Bioenergy Crops
The presence of Sub1A-1 impacts multiple pathways of response to submergence.
The Science
Production of fuels from dedicated perennial grass crops has the potential to decrease dependence on oil imports and release of climate-changing, greenhouse gasses. However, dedicated biofuel crops will need to be grown on large scales on marginal land over many years. Thus it will be necessary to utilize genetically improved varieties that can withstand diverse environmental stresses, such as salinity, flooding and drought, which are major constraints to crop production in many areas of the world. Researchers at the DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have now developed a gene expression profiling approach to identify novel genes that confer tolerance to flooding stress in rice. Rice is used as a model for studies of perennial grasses such as switchgrass, one of the most promising of the grasses for large-scale production of biofuels. A set of 12 genes was identified that are regulated by a single gene that has an effect on several flooding response pathways. Genotypes carrying the Sub1A-1 allele are tolerant of prolonged submergence. These genes can be classified into three functional groups each involved in a different metabolic response to stress.
BER Program Manager
Kari Perez
U.S. Department of Energy, Biological and Environmental Research (SC-33)
Biological Systems Science Division
[email protected]
References
Jung, K.-H.,Y.-S. Seo, H. Walia, P. Cao, T. Fukao, P. E. Canlas, F. Amonpant, J. Bailey-Serres, and P. C. Ronald. 2010. “The Submergence Tolerance Regulator Sub1A Mediates Stress-responsive Expression of AP2/ERF Transcription Factors,” Plant Physiology 152(3). DOI:10.1104/pp.109.152157.