Researchers with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), have charted 900 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals in the center’s nine-and-a-half years of operation.
“Publication in the scientific literature is an important measure of success for this project and for our sponsors,” said BESC Director Paul Gilna. “This body of work is a reflection of our team’s growing impact on the field of biofuels research and of the project’s increasing credibility within the scientific community.”
The 900th paper is a collaboration among three BESC partners: ORNL, the University of Tennessee (UT), and ArborGen Inc. The article titled “Overexpression of a Domain of Unknown Function 266-containing protein results in high cellulose content, reduced recalcitrance and enhanced plant growth in the bioenergy crop Populus” in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels was led by Yongil Yang of ORNL. BESC members include Yongil Yang, Chang Geun Yoo, and Hong Guo from UT, William Rottmann, Kimberly Winkeler, and Cassandra M. Collins from ArborGen, Inc., and Lee E. Gunter, Sara S. Jawdy, Xiaohan Yang, Joseph Y. Pu, Arthur J. Ragauskas, Gerald A. Tuskan, and Jin-Gui (Jay) Chen from ORNL.
As one of three centers in the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BRC) Program, BESC has made substantial progress toward understanding, manipulating, and managing plant cell walls' resistance to being broken down for fuel production, a trait called recalcitrance. Many Populus and switchgrass genes that affect plant cell wall recalcitrance can now be modified, and many of these genetic changes tested have resulted in improved deconstruction potential.