EcoSeed

Researchers from American energy crop company Ceres, Inc, and Aberystwyth University have completed the first high-resolution, comprehensive genetic map of the perennial grass known as miscanthus.

Miscanthus is considered a promising source of biomass for the production of alternative fuels and clean energy. It is fast growing, tough and capable of growing on marginal land. However, it is difficult to establish the crop as it is planted from cuttings or rhizomes.

According to Ceres, it can cost thousands of dollars an acre to establish a field of miscanthus, around five to 10 times more than a seed crop such as switchgrass.

In order for miscanthus to live up to its potential as a bioenergy crop, cheaper ways to breed and raise it need to be developed.

The researchers from Ceres, along with scientists from Aberystwyth's Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences mapped all 19 chromosomes of miscanthus and found 20,000 genetic differences or markers.

Markers allow geneticists to differentiate individual plants based on variations in their D.N.A. This will also allow easier identification of plants with characteristics that breeders may or may not want to propagate.

"By defining the genetic diversity in our germplasm collections with the new D.N.A. markers, we can more rapidly introduce important crop traits into our new, seed-propagated miscanthus products," said Richard Flavell, chief scientific officer of Ceres.

Professor Iain Donnison, head of the bioenergy team at the institute, noted that the mapping project would also provide greater insight into how the miscanthus genome compares with other crop plants.

The research was funded as part of Britain's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Sustainable Bioenergy Center. Both Ceres and Ibers are members of the council, an academic-industry research partnership focused on the bioenergy sector.

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