A Novel Approach to Increase Biomass Yield Through Altering Prohibition Expression

2011 DOT-RITA Seed Award

Principal Investigators and affiliations:
PI: Dr. Joshua Yuan (Texas A&M University, Plant Pathology and Microbiology)
Co-PI: Dr. Susie Dai (Texas A&M University)

Funded: $74,999

Start Date: 7/1/2011

End Date: 6/30/2014

Expected Outcomes:

The proposed research is highly innovative in terms of both scientific discovery and experimental strategies. We expect three folds of deliverables. First, the proposed research will potentially directly generate transgenic sorghum as improved feedstock with higher biomass. Second, the proposed research will lead to identify PHB and relevant genes important for biomass yield increase, which can be used to define new molecular markers and develop new biomass improvement strategies. Third, the proposed research has the potential to reveal a novel mechanism for plant biomass regulation, which will have very broad impact in the bioenergy research.