International Research Fellowship Program: Mechanisms of Sclerenchyma Cell Secondary Wall Development in Brachypodium

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1002683HarringtonThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Michael Harrington to work with Dr. Herman Hofte at Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique Biologie Cellulaire in France.Worldwide the demand for renewable energy made from non-food plant biomass is increasing. Plant biomass (or ?lignocellulose?) serves is an attractive alternative to the current biomass feedstocks, i.e., corn and sugar cane, and is found in plant cell walls. Cell walls of most plants are composed of energy-rich polysaccharide polymers that can be broken down (?saccharification?) to produce many bio-based products (e.g., bioplastics, fibers for textile) and bioethanol. Interestingly, little is known about the mechanisms underlying cell wall synthesis. The goal of this research is to understand both the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying secondary cell wall development of sclerenchyma cells using Brachypodium distachyon, a model for biomass feedstocks. Sclerenchyma cells are composed of thick secondary walls, providing much of the biomass used for biofuel production and bio-based materials. This project involves the characterization of sclerenchyma cell formation using a variety of molecular tools to generate a developmental 3D reconstruction of this process. Moreover, the molecular regulators (i.e., transcription factors or/and processing enzymes) of sclerenchyma cell differentiation and maturation are being identified using a variety of physical and chemical tools, from laser capture microdissection, transcriptomics, to cell wall composition analysis assays for gene expression and function studies. Ultimately, this work is improving our knowledge of secondary cell wall synthesis while identifying the regulators of this process to improve biomass saccharification. Conversely, this work addresses concerns for sustainable sources of energy, fibers, and chemicals by creating a dedicated biomass crop.