Optimising the development of the energy grass Miscanthus through manipulation of flowering time

为了应对气候变化，有必要使用更少的能源，用可再生能源取代我们使用的更多能源。此外，过度依赖进口化石燃料，使未来的燃料安全面临风险。目前存在许多可再生能源（例如生物量、风能、太阳能、海洋能），人们普遍预测，未来将不会有一种能源占主导地位，换句话说，将出现一种混合能源经济。来自能源作物的生物质是可再生能源组合的重要组成部分，因为除了能够通过燃烧提供电力和热量外，生物质还可用于制造运输燃料，化学品和建筑材料。芒草是一种多年生草本植物，也是一种理想的能源作物，因为它结合了甘蔗等热带草的快速生长速度和在英国气温下生长的耐受性。此外，它几乎不需要肥料或除草剂投入，每年产生高产量的生物质。但由于芒属植物是一种新兴作物，以往的基础研究极为有限，对芒的生长发育调控知之甚少。这项提案旨在通过调查开花的分子基础来解决这一问题。为了帮助这一点，我们将利用开发的技术，开花的知识，模式生物，如拟南芥，水稻和玉米。选择开花是因为它是被鉴定为最有可能在优化时快速使产量最大化的特征。例如，非常希望植物尽可能晚地开花以增加生长季节的长度，从而进行更长时间的光合作用以产生更多的生物质。然而，开花也是触发衰老的理想选择，衰老是氮和其他资源被动员到地下根茎（植物的地下部分）的关键过程。这可能非常重要，因为一些植物成分，主要是钾和氯化物，具有腐蚀性或在燃烧时形成腐蚀性化合物，并对发电设备造成损坏。商业上种植的芒草（Miscanthus x Miscanthus）是两个物种（Miscanthus sacchariflorus和Miscanthus sinensis）之间的天然杂交种。然而，开花似乎是不同的控制在父母种，芒花时，日照时间小于12小时，但芒花时，足够温暖的日子已经经历。在英国的条件下，这种杂交种很少开花，而且不育。因此，在这个项目中，我们的目标是确定基因最有可能参与开花时间在两个父母芒。对模式生物的研究已经确定了40多个与开花时间有关的基因，将确定和测试芒属中的等效基因是否具有等效作用。这将使基于DNA的分子标记的开花，可用于英国芒育种计划的发展。分子标记的使用将有助于优化和预测年轻植物的开花时间，而不是等待三年植物成熟。它也将有助于选择新的杂交亲本植物。从该项目中获得的信息将有助于更快地增加芒属植物的生物量产量。因此，这将意味着更多的碳将被固定在更小的土地面积上，此外还将改善农业经济，减少对其他形式土地使用的压力，提高英国燃料安全性，最重要的是减少全球二氧化碳排放。

To combat climate change, it is necessary to use less energy and replace more of the energy we use with renewable sources. Furthermore, there is an over dependence on imported fossil fuels, putting future fuel security at risk. A number of renewable energy sources exist (for example, biomass, wind, solar, marine) and it is widely predicted that in the future no one form will dominate, in other words there will be a mixed energy economy. Biomass from energy crops are an important part of the renewable energy mix because in addition to being able to provide electricity and heat through combustion, biomass can be used to make transport fuels, chemicals and building materials. Miscanthus is a perennial grass and an ideal energy crop because it combines the fast growth rate of a tropical grass such as sugarcane with a tolerance to grow at UK temperatures. Furthermore it requires little to no fertiliser or herbicide inputs and produces a high yield of biomass every year. However as Miscanthus is a new crop, previous basic research has been extremely limited so that little is know about the regulation of growth and development. This proposal seeks to start addressing this deficit by investigating the molecular basis of flowering. To help in this we will exploit technologies developed for, and knowledge of flowering in, model organisms such as Arabidopsis thaliana, rice and maize. Flowering has been chosen because it is the characteristic identified as most likely, when optimised, to maximise yield quickly. For example it is highly desirable for plants to flower as late as possible to increase the length of the growing season and therefore photosynthesise for longer to produce more biomass. However flowering is also desirable to trigger senescence which is a critical process by which nitrogen and other resources are mobilised to the rhizome, the part of the plant below ground. This can be very important because some plant constituents, principally potassium and chloride are corrosive or form corrosive compounds when combusted and cause damage to energy generation equipment. The commercially grown variety of Miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus), is a naturally occurring hybrid between two species, Miscanthus sacchariflorus and Miscanthus sinensis. However flowering appears to be controlled differently in the parental species so that Miscanthus sacchariflorus flowers when the daylength is less than 12 hours but Miscanthus sinensis flowers when sufficient warm days have been experienced. The hybrid only very rarely flowers under UK conditions and is sterile. Therefore in this project we aim to identify the genes most likely to be involved in flowering time in the two parents of Miscanthus x giganteus. Research on model organisms has identified over 40 genes implicated in flowering time and the equivalent genes in Miscanthus will be identified and tested for an equivalent role. This will enable the development of DNA-based molecular markers for flowering which can be used in the UK Miscanthus breeding programme. Use of molecular markers will help with the optimisation and prediction of flowering time in young plants rather than having to wait three years for plants to gain maturity. It will also help in the selection of parent plants for new crosses. The information gained from this project will help to increase biomass yields in Miscanthus more quickly. This will therefore mean that more carbon will be fixed in a smaller area of land, and in addition improve farm economics, decrease pressure on other forms of land use, increase UK fuel security and most importantly reduce global carbon dioxide emissions.