Texas Switchgrass Collaborative: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Ranch_Switchgrass.JPG|thumb|right|Switchgrass growing in Central Texas hill country]] | [[Image:Ranch_Switchgrass.JPG|thumb|right|Switchgrass growing in Central Texas hill country]] | ||
The Texas Switchgrass Collaborative is a group of researchers centered at the University of Texas at Austin studying various aspects of the ecology, physiology, and genetics of switchgrass, a major candidate bioenergy crop. Our primary focus is to understand the mechanisms of drought tolerance in switchgrass. | The Texas Switchgrass Collaborative is a group of researchers, funded by the [http://www.nsf.gov/ National Science Foundation] centered at the University of Texas at Austin studying various aspects of the ecology, physiology, and genetics of switchgrass, a major candidate bioenergy crop. Our primary focus is to understand the mechanisms of drought tolerance in switchgrass. | ||
==Understanding genetic variation of drought tolerance== | ==Understanding genetic variation of drought tolerance== | ||
Revision as of 22:00, 20 June 2010
About us
The Texas Switchgrass Collaborative is a group of researchers, funded by the National Science Foundation centered at the University of Texas at Austin studying various aspects of the ecology, physiology, and genetics of switchgrass, a major candidate bioenergy crop. Our primary focus is to understand the mechanisms of drought tolerance in switchgrass.
Understanding genetic variation of drought tolerance
The effects of climate change during the next 50-100 yrs will largely determine shifts in habitat type and quality, as well as the potential to use habitats for biofuel production. Although decreasing precipitation is expected to reduce plant productivity, the severity of impact will depend on the magnitude and frequency of altered rainfall, physiological tolerance envelopes of species, as well as the ability of switchgrass to acclimate or adapt. As such, a major goal of climate change ecology is to determine responses of target plant species under realistic field conditions. Here, we will use sophisticated field rainout shelters and realistic planting densities to explore switchgrass responses to predicted climate. To understand gene expression responses to drought we will implement RNA-sequencing on various switchgrass varieties under different drought regimes.
We are currently screening multiple cultivars of switchgrass for their tolerance to drought at multiple sites in Central Texas. This research will be conducted at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Brackenridge Field Laboratory in Austin, TX, as well as the USDA Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory in Temple, TX.
The primary goals of this project will be to 1) Estimate the environmental and genetic variability for drought-related traits, overall physiology, and performance among diverse Panium virgatum varieties grown under future climate environments; 2) Identify drought-tolerant P. virgatum varieties for further study and potential biofuel use; 3) Expand our understanding of switchgrass physiology x environment interactions as well as the degree of geographical genotype x environment interactions through collaborative field trails; 4) Predict switchgrass productivity with future climate change using the genomic, physiological, and ecological data from this work to parameterize simulation models; 5) Determine gene expression response to drought across ecotypes.
Development of diploid switchgrass as a model system
The agronomic development of switchgrass as a biofuel crop has focused primarily on Panicum virgatum. Unfortunately, P. virgatum is a complex polyploid (both tetraploid and octaploid series exist), has a large genome (1C > 1500 Mbp) and is thus not easily amenable to traditional molecular genetic studies. In contrast, the closely related diploid species Panicum hallii has a much simpler genome (~500 Mbp) and can provide a genetic reference to support and interpret parallel studies in P. virgatum. Importantly, P. hallii occurs over the same moisture gradient as P. virgatum in the southern Great Plains and has locally adapted mesic (var. filipes) and xeric (var. hallii) ecotypes.
We are currently developing P. hallii as a model genomic system through high-throughput genomic and transcriptome sequencing in collaboration with the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute. Our goal is to understand the genetic basis of natural variation in drought tolerance and biofuel related traits through a combination of high-density genetic mapping with RNA-sequencing. This aim will be achieved by leveraging distribution of natural drought adaptations distributed along the steep cline in soil moisture across Texas and the desert Southwest.
People
Labs
- Tom Juenger, head PI, University of Texas at Austin
- Christin Hawkes, University of Texas at Austin
- Tim Keitt, University of Texas at Austin
- Philip Fay, USDA Temple, TX
Postdocs
- Eli Meyers
- David Lowry
