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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Uncovering The Genetic Basis For Biofuel-Related Traits In Brachypodium Distachyon, Scott J. Lee
Uncovering The Genetic Basis For Biofuel-Related Traits In Brachypodium Distachyon, Scott J. Lee
Doctoral Dissertations
Biofuels derived from plant biomass present a promising avenue to address the negative aspects of fossil-fuel dependence. The sustainability of biofuel production relies in part on the efficient degradation of lignocellulosic feedstocks. In order to capitalize on the potential of lignocellulosic biofuels, the genes underlying natural genetic variation for conversion efficiency must be determined. We have developed a robust and high-throughput assay to measure feedstock quality using the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium phytofermentans. We have measured biomass accumulation phenotypes and utilized this assay to perform quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in the model grass species …
Evaluation Of The Water Stress-Inducible Promoter Wsi18 In The Model Monocot Brachypodium Distachyon, Patrick D. Langille
Evaluation Of The Water Stress-Inducible Promoter Wsi18 In The Model Monocot Brachypodium Distachyon, Patrick D. Langille
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Water deficit-inducible promoters that function in multiple species are valuable components for engineering stress-tolerant crops. Wsi18 is a water deficit-inducible promoter native to Oryza sativa. In this study, Brachypodium distachyon (B. distachyon) was used to determine if Wsi18 retained its water deficit-inducible characteristics in another monocot. Transgenic B. distachyon plants, in which the Wsi18 promoter drove the expression of the uidA reporter gene, were developed and exposed to osmotic stress generated by mannitol, salt stress conditions, and the water deficit-signaling phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). GUS histochemical assays demonstrated increased uidA expression in the leaves and stem of …
Biochemistry And Evolution Of The Phytohormone-Methylating Sabath Methyltransferase In Plants, Minta Chaiprasongsuk
Biochemistry And Evolution Of The Phytohormone-Methylating Sabath Methyltransferase In Plants, Minta Chaiprasongsuk
Doctoral Dissertations
Known members of Phytohormone-methylating compounds are plant synthesis compounds that serve as attractants of other living organisms beneficial to the plants or as defense against other biotic as well as abiotic agents. To increase their fitness and survival in a stressful environment plants produce distinct sets of phytohormone-methylating compounds. Plant genomes can encode the necessary enzymes to acquire the ability to make new specialized compounds during evolution. This dissertation aims to investigate the biochemical and biological functions and evolution of SABATH genes in different lineages of plants. Black cottonwood, Brachypodium and Norway spruce genome were used as the model for …
Insights Into Triterpene Metabolism In Model Monocotyledonous And Oilseed Plants Genetically Engineered With Genes From Botryococcus Braunii, Chase F. Kempinski
Insights Into Triterpene Metabolism In Model Monocotyledonous And Oilseed Plants Genetically Engineered With Genes From Botryococcus Braunii, Chase F. Kempinski
Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences
Isoprenoids are one of the most diverse classes of natural products and are all derived from universal five carbon, prenyl precursors. Squalene and botryococcene are linear, hydrocarbon triterpenes (thirty carbon compounds with six prenyl units) that have industrial and medicinal values. Squalene is produced by all eukaryotes as it is the first committed precursor to sterols, while botryococcene is uniquely produced by the green algae, Botryococcus braunii (race B). Natural sources for these compounds exist, but there is a desire for more renewable production platforms. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana was engineered to accumulate botryococcene and squalene in its oil …
Probing The Plant Cell Wall With Herbicides: A Chemical Genetics Approach, Chad B. Brabham
Probing The Plant Cell Wall With Herbicides: A Chemical Genetics Approach, Chad B. Brabham
Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences
The primary cell wall is a highly organized multi-layered matrix of polysaccharides (cellulose, hemi-cellulose, and pectin). The ability of the rigid cell wall to sufficiently loosen to allow growth is a complex process that differs considerably between grasses monocots and dicots. Cellulose is the major structural component required for anisotropic cell expansion and is synthesized by CELLULOSE SYNTHASE A (CesA) proteins. Here, our objectives were two-fold: 1) dissect cell walls and cellulose biosynthesis in dicots and grasses using chemical biology and reverse genetic approaches 2) characterize and classify the inhibitory mechanisms of cellulose biosynthesis inhibitors (CBIs). A reverse genetics TILLING …