SBIR Phase I: Genetic improvement of loblolly pine wood for increased density

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是使管理的火炬松农场的木材产量增加20%。预计到2060年，全球对森林工业产品的需求，如造纸用纸浆、锯材和燃料用木屑颗粒，将增长60-100%。作为世界第四大林产品出口国，美国完全有能力帮助满足这些日益增长的需求。为此，有管理的火炬松农场将在满足需求方面发挥重要作用。利用生物技术基因性状方法引入细胞壁基因技术，目标是改造松树，使其木材密度比传统作物高出20%。这可能导致每棵树，每英亩更多的木材材料，而不增加生产加工成本，即不增加土地，水或肥料的使用。作为一个额外的好处，具有细胞壁基因技术的生物工程树木通过隔离更多的大气二氧化碳来帮助保护环境，从而有助于对抗全球气候变化的负面影响。最终，这项工作可能会导致可再生材料的发展，以满足社会需求，同时帮助保护环境。本小型企业创新研究阶段（SBIR） I项目建议通过修改次生细胞壁基因调控，评估生物技术基因性状方法在火炬松高木材密度生物工程中的应用。本研究拟采用一种新的改造松转化方案，引入细胞壁基因平台技术，结合泛在表达和次壁特异性启动子，显著和选择性地增加火炬松的细胞壁密度。生物工程植物将根据抗除草剂性进行筛选，并通过基因表达和组织化学分析分析转基因掺入的效果。该项目的预期结果是，一旦获得批准，将培育出400株强度更高、价值更高的生物工程松树幼苗，并在温室和田间试验中进行试验。该项目将作为商业树木作物选择细胞壁基因技术的概念验证测试，以实现技术商业化。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be to increase wood production of managed loblolly pine tree farms by 20%. Global demand for forest industry products, e.g., pulp for paper, saw timber, and wood pellets for fuel, is expected to rise 60-100% by 2060. As the world's 4th largest exporter of forest products, the U.S. is well positioned to help meet these growing needs. To do so, managed loblolly pine tree farms will play a large role in supplying the demand. Using a biotechnology gene trait approach to introduce cell wall gene technology, the goal is to engineer pine trees with 20% more wood density over conventional crops. This may result in more wood material per tree, per acre with no added cost to production processing, i.e., no increase use of land, water, or fertilizers. As an added benefit, bioengineered trees with cell wall gene technologies aid in protecting the environment by sequestering more atmospheric CO2 thus helping to combat the negative effects of global climate change. Ultimately, this work may lead to the development of renewable materials needed to meet societal needs while helping to protect the environment. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase (SBIR) I project proposes to evaluate the use of a biotechnology gene trait approach to bioengineer loblolly pine for high wood density by modifying secondary cell wall gene regulation. The proposed research would utilize a newly adapted pine transformation protocol to introduce cell wall gene platform technologies, together with ubiquitously expressed and secondary wall-specific promoters, to significantly and selectively increase cell wall density in loblolly pine. Bioengineered plants will be selected using herbicide resistance and the effects of transgene incorporation analyzed through gene expression and histochemical analysis. The anticipated outcome of this project will be 400 bioengineered pine seedlings with greater strength and increased value to be tested in greenhouse and field trials once approved. This project will serve as proof-of-concept testing for select cell wall gene technologies in commercial tree crops towards technology commercialization.