GNPS - Elucidation of the Gene Regulatory Networks Governing Terpenoid-Mediated Plant-Environment Interactions to Enable Advanced Bioenergy Crops

The proposed project aims to elucidate the gene-regulatory networks (GRNs) underlying terpenoid metabolism in three major bioenergy crops, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), maize (Zea mays), and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), to aid crop development for enhanced stress resilience and biofuel production from biomass feedstock. Prior studies identified more than 50 terpene synthases (TPS) and cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450), as key enzymes in generating bioactive terpenoids, in several bioenergy plants including switchgrass and maize. This knowledge now enables a precise investigation of the GRNs that govern common and species-specific terpenoid pathways. We will integrate transcription factor (TF) functional studies, TF binding site mapping, transcript and metabolite profiling, and terpenoid pathway engineering to identify the terpenoid-metabolic TF networks mediating stress responses in switchgrass, maize and sorghum.

The work (proposal:https://doi.org/10.46936/10.25585/60001378) conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (https://ror.org/04xm1d337), a DOE Office of Science User Facility, is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.