Belgium and the Netherlands may find themselves in a race to grow the first GM poplars for biofuels.
According to a story in Nature Biotechnology and quoted by Biofuel Watch in an email, the Dutch Government may approve the planting of poplars for biofuel. If you can get to a library, you can see the article in Nature Biotechnology volume 27 number 2 February 2009 p. 107. Alternatively it will cost you $32 to view the article on line.
Information extracted by Hayley Birch. Well done Hayley.
Today the Dutch language, but Belgian, engineeringnet.be says The VIB has gained approval in Flanders, Belgium. So could the race be on?
The VIB website has some interesting stuff... The process it went through to get permission to grow the plants in Belgium, for instance. The fact that VIB has been working on GM poplars for about 10 years...
It is also worth making a note of cinnamoyl-CoA reductase. Remember it. I'm going to guess that it is one of the key components in work by seed/trait companies who are hoping to develop easier-to ferment non-food biofuels. There's quite a bit of interest in cinnamoyl-CoA reductase.
According to a story in Nature Biotechnology and quoted by Biofuel Watch in an email, the Dutch Government may approve the planting of poplars for biofuel. If you can get to a library, you can see the article in Nature Biotechnology volume 27 number 2 February 2009 p. 107. Alternatively it will cost you $32 to view the article on line.
The gist is that...
Researchers at the Ghent, Belgium-based Flanders Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) have developed transgenic poplars deficient in the enzyme cinnamoyl-CoA reductase. This reduces the lignin content making them more suitable for bioethanol production, although so far their benefits have only been demonstrated in the lab.
A final decision from the Dutch government is due in spring 2009.
Information extracted by Hayley Birch. Well done Hayley.
Today the Dutch language, but Belgian, engineeringnet.be says The VIB has gained approval in Flanders, Belgium. So could the race be on?
The VIB website has some interesting stuff... The process it went through to get permission to grow the plants in Belgium, for instance. The fact that VIB has been working on GM poplars for about 10 years...
It is also worth making a note of cinnamoyl-CoA reductase. Remember it. I'm going to guess that it is one of the key components in work by seed/trait companies who are hoping to develop easier-to ferment non-food biofuels. There's quite a bit of interest in cinnamoyl-CoA reductase.
Comments (2)
Any word on how lignin-deficient these poplars would be? Lignin plays a key role in strengthening wood cells in trees , what would happen if trees produce less lignin?
Posted by Pradeep | February 25, 2009 7:46 PM
Posted on February 25, 2009 19:46
I guess lower in lignin rather than low in lignin might be better. I'm not sure that you could take too much lignin out without turning the trees into lumps of squelchy green goo :-(). There's been some work on tobacco plants which shows that too little lignin leads to malformed plants. It was published in The Plant Journal.
Posted by Simon Robinson
|
February 26, 2009 9:16 AM
Posted on February 26, 2009 09:16