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Energy Crops Engineered for Increased Sugar Extraction through Inhibition of snl6 Expression

Technology Benefits

Reduced lignin or phenolic compounds compared with wild type plants Up to a 10 percent increase in sugar extracted Yields developmentally normal plants

Technology Application

Biofuel feedstock plants

Detailed Technology Description

Pamela Ronald and a team of researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have engineered plants with inhibited expression of snl6, a cinnamoyl-CoA reductase-like (CCR-like) gene.  As a result, the JBEI plants have reduced lignin or phenolic compounds compared to wild type plants and yield an increase of up to 10 percent of sugar extracted.  The JBEI technology can be applied to a wide range of plants including rice, miscanthus, switchgrass, sugarcane, sugar beet, sorghum and corn, among others. In addition, the JBEI-engineered plants are developmentally normal. Until now, plants with decreased lignin content have exhibited defects such as reduced size or sturdiness that made them unsuitable biofuel feedstocks. Lignin significantly hinders the extraction of sugars from plant cells walls for saccharification, a key step in the production of biofuels from cellulosic biomass. The JBEI-engineered plants present less lignin or phenolics than control plants and lack the defects of other engineered species making them a superior biofuel feedstock. The Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI, www.jbei.org) is a scientific partnership led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and including the Sandia National Laboratories, the University of California campuses of Berkeley and Davis, the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  JBEI's primary scientific mission is to advance the development of the next generation of biofuels.

Supplementary Information

Patent Number: US20130160161A1
Application Number: US13704969A
Inventor: Bart, Rebecca | Chern, Mawsheng | Ronald, Pamela | Vega-Sanchez, Miguel
Priority Date: 18 Jun 2010
Priority Number: US20130160161A1
Application Date: 7 Mar 2013
Publication Date: 20 Jun 2013
IPC Current: C12N001582
US Class: 800284 | 435099 | 435419 | 800298 | 800306 | 800312 | 800314 | 8003172 | 8003173 | 800319 | 800320 | 8003201 | 8003202 | 8003203 | 800322
Assignee Applicant: The Regents of the University of California
Title: INHIBITION OF SNL6 EXPRESSION FOR BIOFUEL PRODUCTION
Usefulness: INHIBITION OF SNL6 EXPRESSION FOR BIOFUEL PRODUCTION
Summary: As a plant selected from rice, corn, switchgrass, sorghum, millet, miscanthus, sugarcane, poplar, pine, alfalfa, eucalyptus, wheat, soy, cotton, barley, turfgrass, tobacco, hemp, potato, bamboo, rape, sugar beet, sunflower, willow and Brachypodium, for increasing/improving amount of soluble sugars in a saccharification reaction (claimed). Also useful in biofuel production.
Novelty: New plant in which expression of specific endogenous gene is genetically altered in comparison to corresponding wildtype plant that does not have genetic alteration, used for increasing amount of soluble sugars in saccharification reaction

Industry

Biomedical

Sub Category

DNA/Gene Engineering

Application No.

20130160161

Others

Related Materials

Bart RS, Chern M, Vega-Sánchez ME, Canlas P, Ronald PC. 2010. Rice Snl6, a cinnamoyl-CoA reductase-like gene family member, is required for NH1-mediated immunity to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. PLoS Genet. 6(9). pii: e1001123.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Reference Number: EIO-2763

Additional Technologies by these Inventors

• Pathogen Resistance in Plants
• Improved Xylan Extraction
• Improved Saccharification Efficiency by Inhibiting a Xylosyltransferase
• Novel Peptide Capable of Stimulating Disease Resistance in Plants

Tech ID/UC Case

21238/2010-074-0

Related Cases

2010-074-0

*Abstract

None

*IP Issue Date

Jun 20, 2013

*Principal Investigator

Name: Rebecca Bart

Department:

Name: Mawsheng Chern

Department:

Name: Pamela Ronald

Department:

Name: Shimon Vega

Department:

Country/Region

USA