Overexpression of Populus trichocarpa CYP85A3
 promotes growth and biomass production in transgenic trees

Abstract Background Bioconversion of wood into bioproducts and biofuels is hindered by the recalcitrance of woody raw material to bioprocesses such as enzymatic saccharification. Targeted modification of the chemical composition of the feedstock can improve saccharification but this gain is often abrogated by concomitant reduction in tree growth. Results In this study, we report on transgenic hybrid aspen (Populus tremula × tremuloides) lines that showed potential to increase biomass production both in the greenhouse and after 5 years of growth in the field. The transgenic lines carried an overexpression construct for Populus tremula × tremuloides vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP)-associated protein PttVAP27-17 that was selected from a gene-mining program for novel regulators of wood formation. Analytical-scale enzymatic saccharification without any pretreatment revealed for all greenhouse-grown transgenic lines, compared to the wild type, a 20–44% increase in the glucose yield per dry weight after enzymatic saccharification, even though it was statistically significant only for one line. The glucose yield after enzymatic saccharification with a prior hydrothermal pretreatment step with sulfuric acid was not increased in the greenhouse-grown transgenic trees on a dry-weight basis, but increased by 26–50% when calculated on a whole biomass basis in comparison to the wild-type control. Tendencies to increased glucose yields by up to 24% were present on a whole tree biomass basis after acidic pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification also in the transgenic trees grown for 5 years on the field when compared to the wild-type control. Conclusions The results demonstrate the usefulness of gene-mining programs to identify novel genes with the potential to improve biofuel production in tree biotechnology programs. Furthermore, multi-omic analyses, including transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic analyses, performed here provide a toolbox for future studies on the function of VAP27 proteins in plants.

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Exome resequencing and GWAS for growth, ecophysiology, and chemical and metabolomic composition of wood of Populus trichocarpa

BMC Genomics ◽

10.1186/s12864-019-6160-9 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Fernando P. Guerra ◽

Haktan Suren ◽

Jason Holliday ◽

James H. Richards ◽

Oliver Fiehn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biomass Production ◽

Complex Traits ◽

Association Studies ◽

Populus Trichocarpa ◽

Significant Snps ◽

Snp Markers ◽

Exome Capture ◽

Genome Wide Association Studies ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Improvement Programs

Abstract Background Populus trichocarpa is an important forest tree species for the generation of lignocellulosic ethanol. Understanding the genomic basis of biomass production and chemical composition of wood is fundamental in supporting genetic improvement programs. Considerable variation has been observed in this species for complex traits related to growth, phenology, ecophysiology and wood chemistry. Those traits are influenced by both polygenic control and environmental effects, and their genome architecture and regulation are only partially understood. Genome wide association studies (GWAS) represent an approach to advance that aim using thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Genotyping using exome capture methodologies represent an efficient approach to identify specific functional regions of genomes underlying phenotypic variation. Results We identified 813 K SNPs, which were utilized for genotyping 461 P. trichocarpa clones, representing 101 provenances collected from Oregon and Washington, and established in California. A GWAS performed on 20 traits, considering single SNP-marker tests identified a variable number of significant SNPs (p-value < 6.1479E-8) in association with diameter, height, leaf carbon and nitrogen contents, and δ15N. The number of significant SNPs ranged from 2 to 220 per trait. Additionally, multiple-marker analyses by sliding-windows tests detected between 6 and 192 significant windows for the analyzed traits. The significant SNPs resided within genes that encode proteins belonging to different functional classes as such protein synthesis, energy/metabolism and DNA/RNA metabolism, among others. Conclusions SNP-markers within genes associated with traits of importance for biomass production were detected. They contribute to characterize the genomic architecture of P. trichocarpa biomass required to support the development and application of marker breeding technologies.

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Introduction of the rice CYP714D1 gene into Populus inhibits expression of its homologous genes and promotes growth, biomass production and xylem fibre length in transgenic trees

Journal of Experimental Botany ◽

10.1093/jxb/ert127 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 64 (10) ◽

pp. 2847-2857 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Cuiting Wang ◽

Yan Bao ◽

Qiuqing Wang ◽

Hongxia Zhang

Keyword(s):

Biomass Production ◽

Fibre Length ◽

Transgenic Trees ◽

Homologous Genes ◽

Xylem Fibre

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LIFE HISTORY OF THE POPLAR BEETLE CHRYSOMELA TREMULAE F. IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF FRANCE

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/ent125399-2 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 125 (2) ◽

pp. 399-401 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

S. Augustin ◽

J. Lévieux

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Biomass Production ◽

Central Region ◽

Populus Deltoides ◽

Populus Trichocarpa ◽

Leaf Beetles ◽

Short Rotation ◽

History Of ◽

Polyphagous Insects ◽

Poplar Leaf

The need to exploit new sources of energy has recently led France to encourage several research programs toward the cultivation of crops for biomass production to extract alcohol, glucides, and chips for burning. To produce large quantities of biomass rapidly, several species of Populus have been selectively tested in short rotation coppices on about 400 ha in several parts of the country.Among the practical consequences of this policy, one appears to be harmful, namely the spatial extension of several pests, mainly leaf eaters or polyphagous insects. These insects previously were located in poplar nurseries. Among the leaf eaters, larvae and adults of the poplar leaf beetles Chrysomela (= Melasoma) populi L. and Chrysomela tremulae F. feed on many poplar species in central France (e.g. Populus tremula L., Populus trichocarpa Torrey and Gray, Populus deltoides Bartram, Populus lasiocarpa Oliver).

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Exome resequencing and GWAS for growth, ecophysiology, and chemical and metabolomic composition of wood of Populus trichocarpa

10.21203/rs.2.9589/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Fernando P. Guerra ◽

Haktan Suren ◽

Jason Holliday ◽

James H. Richards ◽

Oliver Fiehn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Biomass Production ◽

Complex Traits ◽

Association Studies ◽

Populus Trichocarpa ◽

Exome Capture ◽

Genome Wide Association Studies ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Improvement Programs

Abstract Background: Populus trichocarpa is an important forest tree species for the generation of lignocellulosic ethanol. Understanding the genomic basis of biomass production and chemical composition of wood is fundamental in supporting genetic improvement programs. Considerable variation has been observed in this species for complex traits related to growth, phenology, ecophysiology and wood chemistry. Those traits are influenced by both polygenic control and environmental effects, and their genome architecture and regulation are only partially understood. Genome wide association studies (GWAS) represent an approach to advance that aim using thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Genotyping using exome capture methodologies represent an efficient approach to perform GWAS. Results: A GWAS using 461 P. trichocarpa clones, representing 101 provenances collected from Oregon and Washington, and 813K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), identified a variable number of significant SNPs in association with the assessed traits. Associated single-markers (q< 0.1) ranged from 3 to 110 per trait. The SNPs had a cumulative effect of up to 40.6% of the phenotypic variation of any given trait. Similarly, multiple-marker analyses detected between 16 and 291 significant windows for the phenotypes. The SNPs resided within genes that encode proteins belonging to different functional classes as well as in intergenic regions. Conclusion: SNP-markers within and proximal to genes associated with traits of importance for biomass production were detected. They contribute to characterize the genomic architecture of P. trichocarpa biomass required to support the development and application of marker breeding technologies.

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