Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Production
Robert J. Henry
University of Queensland
contents
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 21
2.2 Applications of Genomics in the Development of Energy Crops ........................................... 22
2.3 Evolutionary Relationships in Higher Plants and Their Genomes ......................................... 22
2.4 Genome Sequencing ............................................................................................................... 22
2.5 Analysis of Genome Variation ................................................................................................ 23
2.6 Transcriptome Analysis .......................................................................................................... 23
2.7 Proteomics of Bioenergy Crops .............................................................................................. 23
2.8 Metabolomics in Relation to Bioenergy Production ............................................................... 24
2.9 Target Traits for Bioenergy Plant Improvement ..................................................................... 24
2.10 Genetic Modification to Add Novel Bioenergy Traits ............................................................ 24
2.11 Promoters and Control of Expression ..................................................................................... 25
2.12 Model Bioenergy Crops .......................................................................................................... 25
2.13 Genomics of Specific Bioenergy Species ............................................................................... 25
2.13.1 Sorghum ...................................................................................................................... 25
2.13.2 Sugarcane (and Close Relatives) ................................................................................. 26
2.13.3 Maize .......................................................................................................................... 26
2.13.4 Other Grasses.............................................................................................................. 26
2.13.5 Poplar .......................................................................................................................... 26
2.13.6 Eucalyptus .................................................................................................................. 27
2.14 Future Prospects for Use of Genomics in Bioenergy Production from Plants ....................... 27
References ........................................................................................................................................ 27
2.1 IntroductIon
Genomics has become a key tool for the analysis of plants and their performance for different
end uses (Henry 2010a and b). Genomics allows for the simultaneous examination of the genes
within a given organism, rather than the single-gene approach traditionally used. This paradigm
has provided a tool that has greatly increased our knowledge of biological systems. Applications
of genomics to food and feed uses of plants have previously dominated research efforts, but the
application to energy use is now beginning. Plants have always been the basis of human food and
have been burnt for heating, but they have only more recently been considered as potential sources
of energy more widely. Humans have come to rely on energy from fossil plants in the form of oil or
coal. The direct use of plants to satisfy energy requirements has become a key alternative as these
fossil resources become limiting and their consumption threatens to cause global warming along
with all of its well-known consequences. Humans domesticated plants by selecting genotypes that
perform well under cultivation but may not be well equipped to survive in the wild (Purugganan
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