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Field Evaluation of Transgenic Switchgrass Plants Overexpressing PvMYB4 for Reduced Biomass Recalcitrance

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Abstract

High biomass yields and minimal agronomic input requirements have made switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L., a leading candidate lignocellulosic bioenergy crop. Large-scale lignocellulosic biofuel production from such crops is limited by the difficulty to deconstruct cell walls into fermentable sugars: the recalcitrance problem. Our goal in this study was to assess the field performance of switchgrass plants overexpressing the switchgrass MYB4 (PvMYB4) transcription factor gene. PvMYB4 transgenic switchgrass can have great lignin reduction, which commensurately increases sugar release and biofuel production. Our results over two growing seasons showed that one transgenic event (out of eight) had important gains in both biofuel (32 % more) and biomass (63 % more) at the end of the second growing season relative to non-transgenic controls. These gains represent a doubling of biofuel production per hectare, which is the highest gain reported from any field-grown modified feedstock. In contrast to this transgenic event, which had relatively low ectopic overexpression of the transgene, five of the eight transgenic events planted did not survive the first field winter. The dead plants were all high-overexpressing events that performed well in the earlier greenhouse studies. Disease susceptibility was not compromised in any transgenic events over the field experiments. These results demonstrate the power of modifying the expression of an endogenous transcription factor to improve biofuel and biomass simultaneously, and also highlight the importance of field studies for “sorting” transgenic events. Further research is needed to develop strategies for fine-tuning temporal-spatial transgene expression in feedstocks to optimize desired phenotypes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Angela Ziebell, Erica Gjersing, Crissa Doeppke, Melvin Tucker, Logan Schuster, Kimberly Mazza, Melissa Glenn, and Kevin Cowley for their assistance with the cell wall characterization. We thank Reggie Millwood for his assistance with the USDA APHIS BRS permitting and adherence to regulations, Joshua Grant for preparing and propagating the plants for field planting, and Ben Wolfe, Marcus Laxton, Johnathan Branson, and the “UT field crew” for the general maintenance and applying fungicide in the field. We thank Arnold Saxton for his assistance with the field design and statistical analyses. This work was supported by funding from the BioEnergy Science Center. The BioEnergy Science Center is a US Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science. Field research was also supported by University of Tennessee AgResearch and a USDA Hatch grant. 

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

      Holly L. Baxter, Charleson R. Poovaiah, Mitra Mazarei & C. Neal Stewart Jr.

    2. Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

      Kelsey L. Yee, Miguel Rodriguez Jr., Olivia A. Thompson, Jonathan R. Mielenz & Brian H. Davison

    3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76203, USA

      Hui Shen, Fang Chen & Richard A. Dixon

    4. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, 80401, USA

      Geoffrey B. Turner, Stephen R. Decker, Robert W. Sykes & Mark F. Davis

    5. BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

      Holly L. Baxter, Charleson R. Poovaiah, Kelsey L. Yee, Mitra Mazarei, Miguel Rodriguez Jr., Olivia A. Thompson, Hui Shen, Geoffrey B. Turner, Stephen R. Decker, Robert W. Sykes, Fang Chen, Mark F. Davis, Jonathan R. Mielenz, Brian H. Davison, Richard A. Dixon & C. Neal Stewart Jr.

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    1. Holly L. Baxter
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    Holly L. Baxter and Charleson R. Poovaiah are equal contributors.

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    Baxter, H.L., Poovaiah, C.R., Yee, K.L. et al. Field Evaluation of Transgenic Switchgrass Plants Overexpressing PvMYB4 for Reduced Biomass Recalcitrance. Bioenerg. Res. 8, 910–921 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9570-1

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