DOE Joint Genome Institute

  • COVID-19
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Our Science
    • DOE Mission Areas
    • Science Programs
    • Science Highlights
    • Scientists
    A vertical tree stump outdoors with about a dozen shiitake mushrooms sprouting from its surface.
    Tracing the Evolution of Shiitake Mushrooms
    Understanding Lentinula genomes and their evolution could provide strategies for converting plant waste into sugars for biofuel production. Additionally, these fungi play a role in the global carbon cycle.

    More

    Soil Virus Offers Insight into Maintaining Microorganisms
    Through a collaborative effort, researchers have identified a protein in soil viruses that may promote soil health.

    More

    Data yielded from RIViT-seq increased the number of sigma factor-gene pairs confirmed in Streptomyces coelicolor from 209 to 399. Here, grey arrows denote previously known regulation and red arrows are regulation identified by RIViT-seq; orange nodes mark sigma factors while gray nodes mark other genes. (Otani, H., Mouncey, N.J. Nat Commun 13, 3502 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31191-w)
    Streamlining Regulon Identification in Bacteria
    Regulons are a group of genes that can be turned on or off by the same regulatory protein. RIViT-seq technology could speed up associating transcription factors with their target genes.

    More

  • Our Projects
    • Search JGI Projects
    • DOE Metrics/Statistics
    • Approved User Proposals
    • Legacy Projects
    The switchgrass diversity panel growing at the Kellogg Biological Station in Michigan. (David Lowry)
    Mapping Switchgrass Traits with Common Gardens
    The combination of field data and genetic information has allowed researchers to associate climate adaptations with switchgrass biology.

    More

    Artist rendering of genome standards being applied to deciphering the extensive diversity of viruses. (Illustration by Leah Pantea)
    Expanding Metagenomics to Capture Viral Diversity
    Along with highlighting the viruses in a given sample, metagenomics shed light on another key aspect of viruses in the environment — their sheer genetic diversity.

    More

    Photograph of a stream of diatoms beneath Arctic sea ice.
    Polar Phytoplankton Need Zinc to Cope with the Cold
    As part of a long-term collaboration with the JGI Algal Program, researchers studying function and activity of phytoplankton genes in polar waters have found that these algae rely on dissolved zinc to photosynthesize.

    More

  • Data & Tools
    • IMG
    • Data Portal
    • MycoCosm
    • PhycoCosm
    • Phytozome
    • GOLD
    Abstract image of gold lights and squares against a black backdrop
    Silver Age of GOLD Introduces New Features
    The Genomes OnLine Database makes curated microbiome metadata that follows community standards freely available and enables large-scale comparative genomics analysis initiatives.

    More

    Graphical overview of the RNA Virus MetaTranscriptomes Project. (Courtesy of Simon Roux)
    A Better Way to Find RNA Virus Needles in the Proverbial Database Haystacks
    Researchers combed through more than 5,000 data sets of RNA sequences generated from diverse environmental samples around the world, resulting in a five-fold increase of RNA virus diversity.

    More

    HPCwire Editor's Choice Award (logo crop) for Best Use of HPC in the Life Sciences
    JGI Part of Berkeley Lab Team Awarded Best Use of HPC in Life Sciences
    The HPCwire Editors Choice Award for Best Use of HPC in Life Sciences went to the Berkeley Lab team comprised of JGI and ExaBiome Project team, supported by the DOE Exascale Computing Project for MetaHipMer, an end-to-end genome assembler that supports “an unprecedented assembly of environmental microbiomes.”

    More

  • User Programs
    • Calls for Proposals
    • Special Initiatives & Programs
    • Product Offerings
    • User Support
    • Policies
    • Submit a Proposal
    Digital ID card with six headshots reads: Congratulations to our 2022 Function Genomics recipients!
    Final Round of 2022 CSP Functional Genomics Awardees
    Meet the final six researchers whose proposals were selected for the 2022 Community Science Program Functional Genomics call.

    More

    CSP New Investigators FY23 R1
    JGI Announces First Round of 2023 New Investigator Awardees
    Twice each year we look for novel research projects aligned with DOE missions and from PIs who have not led any previously-accepted proposals through the CSP New Investigator call.

    More

    screencap from Amundson and Wilkins subsurface microbiome video
    Digging into Microbial Ecosystems Deep Underground
    JGI users and microbiome researchers at Colorado State University have many questions about the microbial communities deep underground, including the role viral infection may play in other natural ecosystems.

    Read more

  • News & Publications
    • News
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
    • Publications
    • Newsletter
    • Logos and Templates
    • Photos
    2022 JGI-UC Merced interns (Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab)
    Exploring Possibilities: 2022 JGI-UC Merced Interns
    The 2022 UC Merced intern cohort share how their summer internship experiences have influenced their careers in science.

    More

    Using Team Science to Build Communities Around Data
    As the data portals grow and evolve, the research communities further expand around them. But with two projects, communities are forming to generate high quality genomes to benefit researchers.

    More

    Cow Rumen and the Early Days of Metagenomics
    Tracing a cow rumen dataset from the lab to material for a hands-on undergraduate research course at CSU-San Marcos that has since expanded into three other universities.

    More

Our Science
Home › Science Highlights › Biofuels from a floating water weed

February 21, 2014

Biofuels from a floating water weed

The recently sequenced genome of Spirodela polyrhiza showcases why the plant makes an excellent raw source for biofuels.

The Science:

Duckweed is one of the smallest and fastest-growing flowering plants that can be a hard-to-control weed in ponds and small lakes. Sequencing the genome of Greater Duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza) has provides clues about how the tiny plant can be used as an efficient biofuel raw material. It turns out to have one of the smallest plant genomes and is missing many genes, including those for plant maturation and production of cellulose and lignin. It has more genes than comparable plants for starch production.

The Impact:

Duckweed shows great promise as a biofuel feedstock. Private companies are already exploring using duckweed to produce fuel. Because of duckweed’s many unique traits (low cellulose and lignin production and high starch production) and life cycle, insights from its genome can tell us a lot about the genes are involved in production of cellulose and lignin. Removing these woody materials from feedstock has been a major challenge in biofuel production. Moreover, S. polyrhiza’s high starch content is also a desirable trait in biofuel feedstock.

Duckweed is a relatively simple plant with fronds that float on the surface of the water and roots that extend into the water. In the flask on the left, you can see the dormant phase, turions, that have dropped to the bottom. Photo by Wenquin Wang

Duckweed is a relatively simple plant with fronds that float on the surface of the water and roots that extend into the water. In the flask on the left, you can see the dormant phase, turions, that have dropped to the bottom. Photo by Wenquin Wang

Summary

Simple and primitive, a duckweed plant consists of a single small kidney-shaped leaf about the size of a pencil-top eraser that floats on the surface of the water with a few thin roots underwater. It often forms thick mats on the edges of ponds, quiet inlets of lakes and in marshes. It’s among the fastest growing plants, able to double its population in a couple of days under ideal conditions. These and other properties make it an ideal candidate as a biofuel feedstock – a raw source for biofuel production.

In a paper published February 19, 2014 in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from Rutgers University, the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute and several other facilities detailed the complete genome of S. polyrhiza and analyzed it in comparison to several other plants, including rice and tomatoes. It’s genome was sequenced as part of a JGI Community Science Program (CSP) project (formerly the Community Sequencing Program).

S. polyrhiza turns out to have one of the smallest known plant genomes, at about 158 million base pairs and fewer than 20,000 protein-encoding genes. Unlike other plants, S. polyrhiza leaves never progress past the juvenile cotyledon stage. Not surprisingly, it has fewer genes to promote and more genes to repress the switch from juvenile to mature growth, compared to other plants. Many of the genes responsible for cellulose and lignin production in land dwelling plants were also missing, and there were fewer copies of those that were present. Genes for starch production, on the other hand, were retained.

Joaquim Messing of Rutgers University, senior author on the paper, estimates that duckweed will be a viable biofuel source within five years. Understanding which genes produce which traits will allow researchers to create new varieties of duckweed with enhanced biofuel traits.

Contact

Joachim Messing
Rutgers University
messing@waksman.rutgers.edu

Publication

Wang W, et al. The Spirodela polyrhiza genome reveals insights into its neotenous reduction fast growth and aquatic lifestyle. Nature Communications 5:3311. 19 February 2014
doi:10.1038/ncomms4311

Funding

Department of Energy, Office of Science
Selman Waksman Chair in Molecular Genetics

Related Links

JGI News Release: Pond-dwelling powerhouse’s genome points to its biofuel potential

Video interview with Messing on the promise of duckweed: http://youtu.be/PLVPfoKw2rs

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140219/ncomms4311/full/ncomms4311.html

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Science Highlights

More topics:

  • COVID-19 Status
  • News
  • Science Highlights
  • Blog
  • Webinars
  • CSP Plans
  • Featured Profiles

Related Content:

New Research Sheds Light on Diversity in the Deep Sea

A photo taken in the deep sea. Black clouds billow out of hydrothermal vents.

Sequencing Sphagnum Leads to Discovery of Sex Chromosomes

A photo of two sphagnum species: S. divinum (red) and S. angustifolium (green)]

Busting the Unbreakable Lignin

Pictured is a micrograph of Neocallimastix californiae.

Tracing the Evolution of Shiitake Mushrooms

A vertical tree stump outdoors with about a dozen shiitake mushrooms sprouting from its surface.

Soil virus offers insight into maintaining microorganisms

Silver age of GOLD introduces new features

Abstract image of gold lights and squares against a black backdrop
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • User Meeting
  • MGM Workshops
  • Internal
  • Disclaimer
  • Credits
  • Policies
  • Emergency Info
  • Accessibility / Section 508 Statement
  • Flickr
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Biosciences Area
A project of the US Department of Energy, Office of Science

JGI is a DOE Office of Science User Facility managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

© 1997-2023 The Regents of the University of California