The molecular mechanisms underlying herbicide metabolism in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha

Global energy demand is likely to increase by 50% by 2040. This trend is most pronounced in developing countries with strong population and economic growth. Bioenergy must be part of the response to mitigate global climate change and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. However, there are concerns over bioenergy production competing with land and water reserves. One solution is the growth of bioenergy feedstocks to produce biogas on semi-arid land that is too dry for conventional agriculture, with plants possessing the highly water-use efficient crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) form of photosynthesis. These plants use 10-fold less water than common C3 and C4 crops for the same amount of biomass produced. The large amount of water stored in their succulent tissues that is leftover after processing as well as the highly nutritious digestate resulting from the anaerobic digestion (AD) of the plant matter can be used to supplement local agriculture. This research aims to biochemically characterise a selection of CAM species and varieties to determine the most promising biogas feedstock candidate(s) for AD in semi-arid lands.

BBSRC priority areas: bioenergy, sustainably enhancing agricultural production, environment and land use, living with environmental change.