First Wild Grass Species and Model System for Energy Crops Sequenced

First Wild Grass Species and Model System for Energy Crops Sequenced

Perennial grasses have emerged as major candidates for the commercial production of cellulosic biofuels from feedstocks.

As the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) works toward developing sustainable sources of clean renewable energy, perennial grasses have emerged as major candidates for the commercial production of cellulosic biofuels from feedstocks. However, little is known about the specific biological traits of the grasses that might contribute to their usefulness for energy production, in part because such grasses typically have long lifecycles and possess large, complex genomes, making them difficult to study.
Representative genomes for two of the three major subfamilies of grasses ⎯ those that include rice, maize, sorghum and sugar cane⎯ have already been sequenced.

More on this article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100210131950.htm

Source: Daily Science