The Open Green Genomes Initiative will generate high-quality genome assemblies and annotations for 35 species representing all major evolutionary lineages in the land plant tree of life. This work will greatly improve comparative analyses of the genes, regulatory networks and metabolic pathways influencing plant growth, responses to environmental stress, and production of valuable plant products…. [Read More]

Polyploid plants are often larger than their diploid progenitors and can be more stress tolerant. Some of the world’s most important crops are polyploid. This project uses three small grasses with compact genomes and traits that make them easy to manipulate in the laboratory. Brachypodium hybridum is an allotetraploid formed by interspecifc hybridization between the… [Read More]

The sustainable production of biofuels from energy crops could greatly benefit from strategies that increase crop productivity in existing agricultural lands. Application of rare earth enzymes (REE) increases crop yields but the molecular mechanisms by which REE increase plant productivity are not well understood. As REE affect the metabolism of methylotrophs, a predominant member of… [Read More]

ORNL researchers are testing the hypothesis that genetic modification of plant cell wall has cascading and quantifiable impacts on its secondary metabolome and the associated functional microbiome. The hypothesis is based on the team’s recent finding that modification of a plant cell wall pathway gene, PdKOR, an endoglucanase, in Populus can impact its ability to… [Read More]

Leveraging genetic and biochemical approaches with JGI contributions, researchers aim to better understand the metabolic diversity of sorghum and maize, how that metabolic diversity is generated, and how specific metabolites and pathways mediate plant interactions with the microbial community. Together these resources and knowledge are anticipated to guide development of next generation Poaceous fuel crops… [Read More]

Heat stress impairs plant growth and reduces crop yield. In nature, temperature and day length are linked together; longer days tend to have higher temperatures than shorter days. Little is known about how photosynthetic organisms regulate and integrate their responses to high temperature and day length to optimize growth. The team will use green alga… [Read More]

Despite the persistent presence of potentially harmful fungi and bacteria, America’s native prairies are healthy, thriving communities of perennial herbaceous plants. How do these communities maintain a balance with these microbes? Bacteria and fungi found in native prairie soil, are mutually antagonist and thus may keep each other in check. Each produces antibiotic compounds when… [Read More]

Chytrids hinder algal biofuel cultivation by causing population crashes, but little is understood about how and under what conditions chytrids infect algae. Recently, researchers have found that the chytrid Paraphysoderma sedebokerense is a facultative algal parasite of Haematococcus pluvialis, whose trophic strategy is regulated by dissolved organic carbon availability. The molecular changes underlying its switch… [Read More]