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Title: Agronomic performance of Populus deltoides trees engineered for biofuel production

Abstract

Background: One of the major barriers to the development of lignocellulosic feedstocks is the recalcitrance of plant cell walls to deconstruction and saccharification. Recalcitrance can be reduced by targeting genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis, but this can have unintended consequences that compromise the agronomic performance of the trees under field conditions. Here we report the results of a field trial of fourteen distinct transgenic Populus deltoides lines that had previously demonstrated reduced recalcitrance without yield penalties under greenhouse conditions.Results: Survival and productivity of the trial were excellent in the first year, and there was little evidence for reduced performance of the transgenic lines with modified target gene expression. Surprisingly, the most striking phenotypic effects in this trial were for two empty-vector control lines that had modified bud set and bud flush. This is most likely due to somaclonal variation or insertional mutagenesis. Traits related to yield, crown architecture, herbivory, pathogen response, and frost damage showed few significant differences between target gene transgenics and empty vector controls. However, there were a few interesting exceptions. Lines overexpressing the DUF231 gene, a putative O-acetyltransferase, showed early bud flush and marginally increased height growth. Lines overexpressing the DUF266 gene, a putative glycosyltransferase, hadmore » significantly decreased stem internode length and slightly higher volume index. Finally, lines overexpressing the PFD2 gene, a putative member of the prefoldin complex, had a slightly reduced volume index.Conclusions: This field trial demonstrates that these cell wall modifications, which decreased cell wall recalcitrance under laboratory conditions, did not seriously compromise first-year performance in the field, despite substantial challenges, including an outbreak of a stem boring insect (Gypsonoma haimbachiana), attack by a leaf rust pathogen (Melampsora spp.), and a late frost event. This bodes well for the potential utility of these lines as advanced biofuels feedstocks.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
OSTI Identifier:
1618697
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1435303
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Biotechnology for Biofuels
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Biotechnology for Biofuels Journal Volume: 10 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1754-6834
Publisher:
Springer Science + Business Media
Country of Publication:
Netherlands
Language:
English
Subject:
09 BIOMASS FUELS

Citation Formats

Macaya-Sanz, David, Chen, Jin‐Gui, Kalluri, Udaya C., Muchero, Wellington, Tschaplinski, Timothy J., Gunter, Lee E., Simon, Sandra J., Biswal, Ajaya K., Bryan, Anthony C., Payyavula, Raja, Xie, Meng, Yang, Yongil, Zhang, Jin, Mohnen, Debra, Tuskan, Gerald A., and DiFazio, Stephen P. Agronomic performance of Populus deltoides trees engineered for biofuel production. Netherlands: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0934-6.
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Macaya-Sanz, David, Chen, Jin‐Gui, Kalluri, Udaya C., Muchero, Wellington, Tschaplinski, Timothy J., Gunter, Lee E., Simon, Sandra J., Biswal, Ajaya K., Bryan, Anthony C., Payyavula, Raja, Xie, Meng, Yang, Yongil, Zhang, Jin, Mohnen, Debra, Tuskan, Gerald A., & DiFazio, Stephen P. Agronomic performance of Populus deltoides trees engineered for biofuel production. Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-017-0934-6
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Macaya-Sanz, David, Chen, Jin‐Gui, Kalluri, Udaya C., Muchero, Wellington, Tschaplinski, Timothy J., Gunter, Lee E., Simon, Sandra J., Biswal, Ajaya K., Bryan, Anthony C., Payyavula, Raja, Xie, Meng, Yang, Yongil, Zhang, Jin, Mohnen, Debra, Tuskan, Gerald A., and DiFazio, Stephen P. Thu . "Agronomic performance of Populus deltoides trees engineered for biofuel production". Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-017-0934-6.
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@article{osti_1618697,
title = {Agronomic performance of Populus deltoides trees engineered for biofuel production},
author = {Macaya-Sanz, David and Chen, Jin‐Gui and Kalluri, Udaya C. and Muchero, Wellington and Tschaplinski, Timothy J. and Gunter, Lee E. and Simon, Sandra J. and Biswal, Ajaya K. and Bryan, Anthony C. and Payyavula, Raja and Xie, Meng and Yang, Yongil and Zhang, Jin and Mohnen, Debra and Tuskan, Gerald A. and DiFazio, Stephen P.},
abstractNote = {Background: One of the major barriers to the development of lignocellulosic feedstocks is the recalcitrance of plant cell walls to deconstruction and saccharification. Recalcitrance can be reduced by targeting genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis, but this can have unintended consequences that compromise the agronomic performance of the trees under field conditions. Here we report the results of a field trial of fourteen distinct transgenic Populus deltoides lines that had previously demonstrated reduced recalcitrance without yield penalties under greenhouse conditions.Results: Survival and productivity of the trial were excellent in the first year, and there was little evidence for reduced performance of the transgenic lines with modified target gene expression. Surprisingly, the most striking phenotypic effects in this trial were for two empty-vector control lines that had modified bud set and bud flush. This is most likely due to somaclonal variation or insertional mutagenesis. Traits related to yield, crown architecture, herbivory, pathogen response, and frost damage showed few significant differences between target gene transgenics and empty vector controls. However, there were a few interesting exceptions. Lines overexpressing the DUF231 gene, a putative O-acetyltransferase, showed early bud flush and marginally increased height growth. Lines overexpressing the DUF266 gene, a putative glycosyltransferase, had significantly decreased stem internode length and slightly higher volume index. Finally, lines overexpressing the PFD2 gene, a putative member of the prefoldin complex, had a slightly reduced volume index.Conclusions: This field trial demonstrates that these cell wall modifications, which decreased cell wall recalcitrance under laboratory conditions, did not seriously compromise first-year performance in the field, despite substantial challenges, including an outbreak of a stem boring insect (Gypsonoma haimbachiana), attack by a leaf rust pathogen (Melampsora spp.), and a late frost event. This bodes well for the potential utility of these lines as advanced biofuels feedstocks.},
doi = {10.1186/s13068-017-0934-6},
journal = {Biotechnology for Biofuels},
number = 1,
volume = 10,
place = {Netherlands},
year = {Thu Nov 30 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Thu Nov 30 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-017-0934-6
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