"Fat” gene could increase biomass production
Monday 15 February 2010
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| Arabidopsis cells before and after over expression of CLE41 |
Scientists from the University of Manchester have identified the genes that make plants grow fatter and plan to use their research to increase plant biomass in trees and other species, to help meet the need for renewable resources.
Professor Simon Turner and Dr Peter Etchells, from the research and teaching organisation the Faculty of Life Sciences, studied the plant Arabidopsis - which does not look like a tree but has a similar vascular system (which carries water and sugar around the plant) - to make this discovery.
They investigated growth in the vascular bundles and found that the genes PXY and CLE41 directed the amount and direction of cell division.
Furthermore, they found that over-expression of CLE41 caused a greater amount of growth in a well-ordered fashion, thus increasing wood production.
Explaining the results of the research, Professor Simon Turner said that the team had identified the two genes that make plants grow outwards. According to the researcher, the long, thin cells growing down the length of a plant divide outwards, giving the pattern of characteristic growth rings in trees.
He said: "We wanted to know how the cells divided to produce this pattern, how they ‘knew' which side to divide along, and we found that it was down to the interaction of these two genes.
"Now we know what genes are dictating the growth process, we can develop a system of increasing growth so that it is orientated to produce more wood - increasing the essential biomass needed for our future."
Professor Turner added that the process would have the added benefit of not leading to competition with food production, which he claimed is a growing concern. This is due to the part of the plant which was studied being the stalk, not the grain.
He claimed: "Now we know what genes are dictating the growth process, we can develop a system of increasing growth so that it is orientated to produce more wood - increasing the essential biomass needed for our future."
The team is now growing poplar trees in the lab to see if they fit the Arabidopsis model and hope to use the results to develop a system of increasing wood production.
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