Evaluation of contrasting progenies transcriptome for the accumulation of biomass and identification of regulation networks

Abstract

The development of the cellulosic ethanol technology, in which the bagasse is used to produce ethanol, has generated interest in the development of the energy cane, which has more fiber and biomass. The development of the energy cane will favor the production of cellulosic ethanol and its biomass can also be used in thermochemical and biorefineries with the integrated production of multiple products including biofuels, bioelectricity, chemical compounds, biogas and heat. For each sugarcane variety released, lower yield gains have been observed, which may be caused by the narrow genetic base of commercial varieties (Dal-Bianco, Carneiro et al., 2012). The analysis of crosses with ancestral genotypes has addressed the need to increase the genetic base used in the development of modern commercial hybrids. In this project, we will analyze the physiology and biochemistry of progenies from crosses between commercial and ancestral varieties and select genotypes with characteristics desirable to the energy cane for the study of the transcriptome. For the development of the energy cane, it is necessary to modify the characteristics of sugarcane by changing the partition of carbon from sugar to biomass. This strategy involves the knowledge of the regulatory networks of secondary cell wall metabolism, the main component of plant biomass. (AU)