Danforth Center Part of Biofuel Study
by Tim Bryant (STLToday.com) The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is among five recipients of a $12.1 million federal grant to develop drought-tolerant grass as a sustainable source of biofuel.
Developing bioenergy grasses with the desirable traits needed for large-scale production requires “model plant systems” closely related to bioenergy feedstocks but “more amenable to genetic analysis,” Danforth Center officials said Monday in announcing the five-year grant.
Promising species for study include Setaria viridis, a grass closely related to corn, and Brachypodium, a grass with a genetic makeup similar to wheat.
…The other recipients of the Department of Energy grant are the Carnegie Institution for Science, the University of Illinois, the University of Minnesota and Washington State University. READ MORE and MORE (Ethanol Producer Magazine) and MORE (University of Illinois)



