Improving the UK knowledge-base on sugar-storing cereals for biofuels
Lead Research Organisation:
John Innes Centre
Department Name: Metabolic Biology
Abstract
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| Description | We were investigating the basis of the accumulation of sugar in plants using stems of sweet sorghum as a model. Originally accumulation was thought to be a defect in an enzyme that breaks down sugar as it had been observed that there was a defect in the gene encoding this enzyme that was associated with the trait. However, in this exchange collaboration, we found that this association was a coincidence, the marker was in a non-functional gene and the defect was most likely in a different gene - a transcription factor that controls other genes - and one controlling the development of the stem. Our other objectives in this China Partnering Award (with outcomes following in square brackets) were to: • to establish sweet sorghum as a model for sugar-storing biofuels. [We improved the information and genomic technologies available for this species so it could be more readily used to examine the sugar-storing phenomenon.] • to train students and postdocs in genetic and genomic analysis for gene function in cereals, using the sugar-storage trait as a platform. [This was achieved in full with exchanges of supervisors and young researchers (3 Chinese, 3 UK) between the collaborators. Furthermore, two workshops were held in Beijing, one at the start (entitled Sugar-storing Cereals for Biofuels) and one at the end of the project (entitled Cereals, biomass and biofuels) with attendees, including industry and young researchers, from the UK and across China. ] • to establish a sorghum TILLING and transformation pipeline for use by UK scientists. [Both of these pipelines were established at IBCAS, Beijing and are available to researchers. The TILLING platform is based on a population of about 10000 individuals.] • to develop collaborations on projects of mutual interest and exchange information on gene functional analysis in cereals with respect to the sugar-storage trait. (Researchers from UK visited to learn about improvements made by IBCAS to the processes. We explored and exchanged information on the genes involved in sugar metabolism. This and a previous China Partnering Award have lent support to the establishment of the joint laboratory between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the John Innes Centre, CEPAMS.) |
| Exploitation Route | The knowledge from this project can be used to help understand sugar-storing process in plants. The work on the genes involved will be published and the information can be used to improve the capacity of cereals to store sugar and be used as a biofuel. The two research platforms developed during this collaboration can be used by other researchers to obtain mutations in their genes of interest in sweet sorghum for improvement of the crop. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Energy,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | The project indirectly has helped to foster UK-China collaborations in the plant sciences, in particular the establishment of the 'Centre of Excellence in Plant And Microbial Sciences' (CEPAMS), a collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the John Innes Centre. The technologies developed during the project are available to other researchers and have been deployed by IBCAS in collaborations with organisations in other sorghum growing countries. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Economic |
| Description | CEPAMS |
| Organisation | Chinese Academy of Sciences |
| Department | Institute of Genetics & Developmental Biology |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | During an exchange under this China Partnering Award, we brought together all the John Innes Centre alumni working in Beijing together with the incoming Director of the JIC. This event catalysed the formation of a joint venture between the JIC and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. |
| Collaborator Contribution | These exchange grants led to the establishment of the Centre for Excellence in Plant and Microbial Science, a joint laboratory between the John Innes Centre and the Chinese Academy of Sciences that now hosts its own scientists in Shanghai and Beijing as well as those from the John Innes Centre who have laboratories in both JIC and China. |
| Impact | 10 group leader positions at the Centre in China |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | CEPAMS |
| Organisation | Chinese Academy of Sciences |
| Department | Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | During an exchange under this China Partnering Award, we brought together all the John Innes Centre alumni working in Beijing together with the incoming Director of the JIC. This event catalysed the formation of a joint venture between the JIC and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. |
| Collaborator Contribution | These exchange grants led to the establishment of the Centre for Excellence in Plant and Microbial Science, a joint laboratory between the John Innes Centre and the Chinese Academy of Sciences that now hosts its own scientists in Shanghai and Beijing as well as those from the John Innes Centre who have laboratories in both JIC and China. |
| Impact | 10 group leader positions at the Centre in China |
| Start Year | 2014 |