Studying switchgrass genetics to unlock bioenergy.(Conservation news you can use)(Brief article)

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, May, 2007

Scientists are using genetic "snapshots" of switchgrass, fragments of genetic material called messenger RNA (mRNA), to better understand how to unlock its potential for bioenergy. Determining the nucleotide sequences of the mRNA snapshots provides important information, according to a recent USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) news release.

Gautam Sarath, a molecular biologist at the Grain, Forage and Bioenergy Research Unit, USDA ARS, in Lincoln, Nebraska, and co-workers have determined the sequences of about 12,000 switchgrass gene fragments. Some of these are associated with genes that regulate lignin, an agent that holds plant cell walls together.

Bioenergy producers believe that "loosening the grip" of lignin will allow more sugars within...

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