Walnut Creek, CA -- Bioenergy crop plants switchgrass and cassava, other important agricultural commodities such as cotton, and microbes geared to break down plant material to render biofuels, round out the roster of more than 40 projects to be tackled by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) over the next year. Drawing submissions from DOE JGI's more than 400-strong user community, the genomes of these organisms will be sequenced and characterized as part of the DOE JGI Community Sequencing Program (CSP). Over 15 billion letters of genetic code--or the equivalent of the human genome five times over--will be processed through the DNA sequencers at the DOE JGI Production Genomics Facility for this year's program and ultimately, the information will be made freely available to the greater scientific community.
"By coupling DNA sequencing technology with fundamental research, we seek to make cellulosic ethanol a major part of the nation's energy future," said DOE JGI Director Eddy Rubin. His remarks and the CSP selections echo recommendations outlined in the "Breaking the Biological Barriers to Cellulosic Ethanol" report issued by DOE on July 7 (http://www.doe.gov/news/3804.htm). "The newest direction in biosciences research--systems biology--is built on a strong foundation of DOE's investment in genomics, with DNA sequence as the starting material of that endeavor and DOE JGI as the generator of that information through the CSP. Downstream characterization of the pathways inferred by the genetic code of the target CSP organisms is then supported through the DOE Genomics:GTL program."
In his 2006 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush specifically cited the promise of switchgrass as a bioenergy crop. A tall perennial grass, a dominant species of the North American prairie, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is particularly compelling because of its relatively l
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Contact: David Gilbert
gilbert21@llnl.gov
925-296-5643
DOE/Joint Genome Institute
11-Jul-2006