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Background: Exploiting heterosis through hybrid breeding is essential to increase biomass yields of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). However, life cycle timespan for clone evaluation for field evalu...

The ability to attain the feedstock production goal in the USA for biofuel production is limited by available arable land, cool temperatures, and periods of low light intensity. This study investigates the effects of warm and cool temperatures growth conditions in a low light regime on the photosynthesis and growth of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum cv. Alamo) and giant miscanthus (Miscanthus giganteus). Alamo switchgrass did not acclimate to low light conditions and had a 47% lower growth and significantly lower mean light saturated photosynthetic rate (Asat = 10.3 μmol m−2s−1) at 14/12°C day/night, compared with 28/25°C (Asat = 18.8 μmol m−2s−1). In contrast, photosynthesis of giant miscanthus acclimated to low light conditions, but there was no significant decrease in quantum requirement or light saturated photosynthetic rates in cool growing conditions (Asat = 8.2 μmol m−2s−1 and 7.0 μmol m−2s−1 for warm and cool conditions, respectively). In summary, giant miscanthus growth and photosynthesis is relati...

We argue that responsible conduct research (RCR) instruction should be extended beyond students and trainees funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or National Science Foundation (NSF) to include all students, trainees, faculty, and research staff involved in research. Extending the scope of RCR instruction can help institutions develop and maintain an environment that promotes ethical research conduct. Universities and scientific organizations have objected to expanding the scope of RCR instruction on the grounds that it would be a major undertaking that would require the expenditure of additional institutional resources. We argue, however, that expanding the scope of RCR instruction can be done efficiently without placing undue burdens on institutions.

Modification of lignin in bioenergy feedstocks has become a common strategy to increase saccharification and biofuel yield. The lignin biosynthetic pathway in several plant species has been dissected and key enzymes have been manipulated in transgenic plants. Recent analyses of lignin-modified plants have shown that decreasing lignin biosynthesis can alter carbon flow within the phenylpropanoid pathway and indirectly affect the synthesis of other secondary metabolites, many of which can play important roles in plant–environment interactions. In addition, lignin modifications have also been shown to induce the expression of various stress response-related genes. Examining and understanding these indirect effects of lignin modification on stress-related processes are essential, since they could ultimately impact the performance of low-lignin bioenergy feedstocks under agronomic field conditions. Recent efforts to characterize such effects will be discussed in this review.

One risk of planting transgenic crops is the escape of transgenes to conspecifics and sexually compatible wild relatives. Detecting transgene escape is thus a crucial biosafety issue world-wide, but most current detection methods are expensive and laborious, as well as being unfeasible for large-scale use in commercial cultivation. We undertook field spectral reflectance studies of non-transgenic oilseed rape (B. napus cv. Westar), a transgenic oilseed rape, Wild Indian mustard (B. juncea var. gracilis) and a hybrid Wild Indian mustard. Simulated reflectances for the spectral bands of several different satellite-flown hyperspectral and multi-spectral scanners were generated. The differences obtained between the simulated reflectances of the different plants leads to the possibility that these differences could be used to detect transgene escape and genomic effects among related taxa from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) hyperspectral scanner and from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) High Resolution Visible (HRV) and IKONOS multi-spectral scanners.

The use of transgenic tools for the improvement of plant feedstocks will be required to realize the full economic and environmental benefits of cellulosic and other biofuels, particularly from perennial plants. Traits that are targets for improvement of biofuels crops include herbicide resistance, pest, drought, cold and salt tolerance, nutrient use efficiency, altered cell wall composition and improved processing and end-use characteristics. However, controlling gene flow is a major issue and there is no regulatory experience with perennial plants as dedicated biofuels feedstocks. Bioconfinement of transgenes is thus an obvious regulatory and biosafety objective to the release and commercialization of transgenic bioenergy feedstocks. In this article, we review bioconfinement strategies that target pollen or seeds that can be applied to perennial plants used as biofuels. These include male sterility, integration of transgenes into plastid genomes, removal of transgenes in pollen and seeds, transgene expre...

487 ISSN 1759-7269 10.4155/BFS.11.130 © 2011 Future Science Ltd Despite biofuel’s potential as an economically and environmentally sustainable alternative to petroleum-based transportation fuel, the transition to biofuels for transportation has yet to be realized because of several major challenges [1]. The key technical barriers for the development of a mature biofuel industry include the availability of sufficient quantities of feedstocks; issues with existing infrastructure compatibility; environmental sustain ability concerns; and uncertainty about long-term economic viability, all of which depend on the overall efficiency of converting sunlight to biomass to fuel [1]. For example, the new US Renewable Fuels Standard requires the production of 36 billion gallons of renewable biofuels by the year 2022, of which 21 billion must be advanced biofuels. In order to reach this goal, we will have to produce 4.636 billion GJ liquid fuel energy (using gasoline as the standard). If we were to meet that goal using ethanol produced under current technology, approximately 58.6 million ha, which is approximately 17% of the US total farmland (36% of cropland), would be dedicated to growing the necessary biomass to feed biorefineries. Similarly, the rapid development of emerging economies, such as China and India, has also imposed serious challenges regarding natural resource constraints, both locally and globally. Considering the limited land and the tremendous need for food and fiber for their large populations, it is very unlikely that China and India will be able to dedicate a large proportion of their cropland to bioenergy feedstock production. To ensure that farmland resources are not strained and prime farmland is reserved for growing essential food, feed and fiber crops, overall efficiency must be enhanced for biofuel production so that fuel production per hectare is maximized [1,2]. In addition, proper biofuel production strategies and feedstocks need to be selected and optimized for different regions and countries. The biofuels industry and biomass utilization strategies have to be tailored toward various unique agricultural production systems, transportation infrastructures and socio economic structures that US–China collaborative biofuel research: towards a global solution for petroleum replacement

Insectivory, growth, and nutrition of Drosera binata var. multifida and D. capensis were studied in long-established plantings in a green-house. Exclosures were used to manipulate insect availability to leaves, and substrate phosphorus and nitrogen fertiliser was added to increase these mineral nutrients. Neither species benefitted significantly from insect capture on a nutritional or energetic basis in nutrient-poor or -rich soils. However, both species benefitted from soil nutrient additions, and accumulated N and P in vegetative organs. Phosphorus levels in shoots were especially high in P fertilised plots for both species. In addition, P concentrations increased significantly in the roots of D. binata. Nitrogen levels in all tissues were slightly higher in N fertilised plots, and statistical differences were observed in roots of D. capensis and in shoots of D. binata. Drosera capensis showed increased growth with N and P additions, especially in root biomass. However, leaf number and rosette ...