U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science

Poplar Genome Based Research for Carbon Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems
Principal investigators:
Mark F. Davis, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Safiyh Taghavi, Brookhaven National Laboratory; Janice Cooke, University of Alberta
mark_davis@nrel.gov
taghavis@bnl.gov
janice.cooke@ualberta.ca

Co-investigators:
Michael Himmel, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Daniel van der Lelie, Brookhaven National Laboratory

Project period:
October 2005 to present


EEWEROR, BO-131 		  Understanding the effects of the interactions between poplar and its endophytic microbial partners on plant biomass production and below-ground carbon cycling

Summary: The associations of endophytic bacteria with their plant hosts have been shown to have a growth-promoting effect for many different plant species, but the mechanisms are unknown. The project goal is to understand the molecular-level interactions between endophytic bacteria and Populus that result in increased plant growth. The research aims to test the hypothesis that endophyte-Populus interactions not only increase total Populus biomass production, but also increase partitioning of carbon into long-lived (i.e., recalcitrant) forms.

A systems biology approach is being used to study relationships between the host responses and properties inherent to the endophyte using the following:

  • a high-throughput screen of approximately 100 bacterial endophytic strains to identify those strains with the greatest impact on Populus net primary productivity and cell wall composition;
  • transcript and metabolite profiling of promising candidates to characterize how endophytic colonization impacts the Populus transcriptome and metabolome, respectively;
  • investigation of endophyte properties that are hypothesized to be important for colonization and plant growth promotion, including capacity for production of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes, nitrogen-fixing enzymes, and low molecular weight compounds that may act as phytohormones; and
  • bioinformatic approaches to identify relationships between genetic, biochemical, and metabolic changes.

The project will test different multivariate statistical, neural network and modeling approaches to meaningfully integrate and interpret the transcriptomic, metabolic, and enzymatic activity data. The resulting comprehensive view of the endophyte-Populus interactions will shed light on if, and how, endophyte inoculants might be used as a means to increase carbon sequestration in Populus plantations.

Security Notice