Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Climate change maybe the greatest environmental challenge ever faced by humankind. Amongst the solutions to address global climate change is a greater reliance on biologically and economically effective biofuels. Biodiesel derived from oilseed crops (e.g. canola, rapeseed, soybean) is one of the most promising biofuels. Although much emphasis in North America is paid to bioethanol derived from corn and wheat, without addressing the greenhouse gas emissions derived from the inputs required to grow these crops (especially nitrogen fertilizer), greenhouse gas savings from bioethanol will be marginal. Utilization of symbiotic bacteria which can supply nitrogen to plants through biological nitrogen (N) fixation has great potential for improving some crop plants as feedstock for biofuel production. ) The long-term objective of this research is the development of crop plant-microbe combinations and agricultural processes that will decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Over the next 5 years, this objective will be pursued by the following three strategies: (1) We will attempt to improve soybean as a feedstock for biodiesel production by modification of a key enzyme that will increase oil productivity without increasing greenhouse gas emissions from the crop. (2) We will attempt to utilize N2-fixing bacteria to improve sugar beet as a bioethanol feedstock by enabling the plant to grow with less dependence upon N fertilizers. (3) We will investigate the potential of utilizing a particular N2-fixing bacterium to enhance milling byproducts of sugar crops (e.g. sugar beet pulp) for use as a biofertilizer and/or an enhanced-value animal feed.