U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science

Poplar Genome Based Research for Carbon Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems
Principal investigators:
Gerald A. Tuskan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; John M. Davis, University of Florida; Steven H. Strauss, Oregon State University
tuskanga@ornl.gov
jmdavis@ufl.edu
steve.strauss@orst.edu

Project period:
January 2003 to present


ERKP447, ER63843, ER63845 		  Genome-enabled discovery of carbon sequestration genes in Populus

Summary: The project is leveraging the Populus trichocarpa genome sequence to discover genes important to carbon sequestration in plants and soils. The focus is on the identification of genes in Populus that provide key control points for the flow and chemical transformations of carbon in roots, concentrating on genes that favor increased sink activity (greater root mass) and synthesis of chemical forms of carbon that result in slower turnover rates of soil organic matter. The goal is to enhance carbon partitioning to recalcitrant compounds in roots by altering the auxin and cytokinin signaling pathways. The effects of altering genes that have been shown to affect carbon partitioning in model species, including the invertase family, which controls sucrose catabolism, are being explored.

The project is following multiple pathways to discover and characterize genes that affect and/or regulate partitioning of carbon to recalcitrant forms in Populus roots by:

  • Identifying candidate genes with putative roles in belowground carbon partitioning by (1) screening existing transgenic lines, (2) using comparative genomics, and (3) using map-based cloning of genes controlling metabolite production.
  • Exploring the functions of candidate genes using Populus transformation for both constitutive and inducible gene expression to characterize putative carbon partitioning gene function.
  • Evaluating effects of candidate genes and implications for carbon sequestration using a combination of high-throughput whole-plant morphological and physiological measurements, GC/MS-based metabolic profiling, near-IR analysis of roots, and microarray-based expression profiling of candidate genes in transgenic materials.


More information: http://www.esd.ornl.gov/PGG/project.htm
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