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Improvement of resource use efficiencyin biomass cropsin biomass crops
Workshop EU-US Taskforce Biotech for Bioenergyp gy
San Francisco
21. February 2008
Ul i h S hUlrich Schurr
Outline• Resource use efficency and strategies for bioenergy cropsResource use efficency and strategies for bioenergy crops • Plant resource use efficiency: interaction between
environmental dynamics and plant responses on various spatial and temporal scales
• Growth is essential for RUE• Novel opportunities for quantitative analysis
Example: MRI-PET integration for plantsPh i b d b l dPhenomics – above and belowground
• Implementation of increased RUE in bioenergy cropsIntegration of environmental dynamics and plantIntegration of environmental dynamics and plant structural and functional dynamics
European Technology Platforms for “Knowledge-Based Bioeconomy”
F d f Lif
Strategic Research Agenda development• Industry
A d i
Global AnimalHealth
Biofuels
Food for Life • Academia• Public• politics
Knowledge-BasedBio-Economy
Forestry Farm AnimalBreeding
Industrial
Bioenergy
IndustrialBio-technology Plants for
the Future
Crop RoadmapC4 grasses
mai
zemaize
arm
Miscanthus
Sorghum
popl
a Miscanthus
barle
y
futureenergy crops
BIOMASS RESOURCE USE EFFICIENCY
current cropscurrent
energy crops
energy crops
BIOMASS RESOURCE USE EFFICIENCY
Resource use efficiency - concepty p
BRUE H
AIRUE
C
H
×≈
RUE: Resource use efficiency Resources: light, water, nutrients
BH : Biomass harvested
IC : Investment in carbon
A : Availability of resources
Cost for structure and function
Dynamics of ResourceA : Availability of resources Dynamics of Resource
Resource use efficiency links plant internal processesResource use efficiency links plant internal processes with environmental availability of resources
Plants have to gain resources from heterogenous resource fieldg
vertical
Light dynamics and heterogeneity
A lhorizontal • Annual• Daily• Minutes• Seconds and faster
Gersonde, R. and O'Hara, K. 2001. Calibrating a spatially explicit light model for Sierra Nevada mixed‐conifer forests. University of California, Berkeley, Forest Science Division. http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/%7Egersonde/light_poster.html
Plants have to gain resources fromheterogenous resource field
Soil pore heterogeneity
Size distribution of pores
• Determine water availability• Define available space for rootsDefine available space for roots
Principal characteristics of the resourcedi t ib ti f t d h tdistribution for roots and shoots
Leaf Root
Resources Light, CO2 , oxygen Nutrients, water
Physicalcharacteristics
Low density, gaseous High density, solid and liquid (aqueous)
Chemicalcomposition
Gaseous, well mixed Patchy, chemical and mechanical compartments
Variability/Heterogeneity
Short-term, no significant bufferStrong temporal fluctuations
Buffered,spatially structured
How does a leaf/ shoot optimise resource acquisition from a dynamic q yfield of resources ?
Light regime is highly variable in intensityLight regime is highly variable in intensity
Maximising Minimising gcarbon gain
gdamage by high
light
photoprotection photosynthesis
How does a root (system) optimise resource acquisition from a dynamic q yfield of resources ?
Mobile nutrients (nitrate) „Bound“ nutrients3‐4 days( ) „
(phosphate)
Nitrat
mg/l
Plant optimisations to variable resource a ailabilitavailability
• Inducible systems (transporters, adaptation of metabolism)
Very well studied concept on the biochemical level
• Topology of acquisition systems (root and shoot architecture)
Little quantitative data, but can be highly efficient
How can a plant gain double carbon gain ?
Doubling the efficiency of photosynthesis ? Produce a second leaf ?
S i ith diff t
TobaccoRicinus
Species with different resourceuse efficiency differ in root
system geometries
Quantitative root architecture700
m) 0
m area
(cm
²)
400
500
600gl
as b
ox (c
m
-40
-20TobaccoRicinus
1
Tota
l roo
t
100
200
300
epth
of p
lexi
-80
-60
1 m
0
Root area (cm²)0 20 40 60 80 100 120
D -100
aboveground / belowground
from lab to applicationEnvironment from lab to application
plant behaviourdynamic interaction
Include environment in systems biology for resource use
plant productinteractionefficiency
plant Fluxomics
M t b l i N l t h l iGenes, Proteines, Metabolism, Fluxes
T i t i
Proteomics
Metabolomics Novel technologies
Genomics
Transcriptomics
Technologyplatform„Green“ NMR House
30 cm, 4.5 Tesla
„Green NMR Housefor dynamic plant
processes10 cm, 7 Tesla
Ende 2008
US 14100 cm, 1.5 Tesla
Integration of MRI and PET – unique andIntegration of MRI and PET unique and novel tools for plant research
PlanTIS 4.7 Tesla vertical NMR
Application (e.g.):- 3D-Topology of roots and shoots- Carbon transport
Dynamics of structures and functions -aboveground
water content/ growth
inner structures
Transport functions
MagneticResonanceTomography Rokitta et al 98
Dynamics of structures and functions –belowground
(a) (b)
froots growth in real soil
carbon fluxes in roots
PLANTIS: PET for plantsPLANTIS: PET for plants
Image analysis of growing systems – Soft- and HardwareSoft and Hardware
Image sequences
prefilter∫Ω
−= 'd)'()'()(~ xxgxxfxg rrrrr
Ω
regularized optical flowvia CLG
optical flow (local)== )1,,( minarg uuuuJuu yx
rrrr
Growth maps∫
∫Ω
∇∇
∇+=
'd)'(~)'(~)'()(
d)(minarg
T
2
J
xuuJuu
rrrrrr
rrrrr λ∫Ω
∇∇−= 'd)'(~)'(~)'()(
)(gT xxgxgxxwxJ
yx
rrrrrr
regularization (global) ∫Ω
∇∇−= 'd)'()'()'()( T xxgxgxxwxJ
di
regularization (global)
∫Ω
∇+−= xduuuu iiiir22 )~()~(minarg~ λ
divergenceyyxx uurgr ∂+∂=
I t ti f i di i li
0 %/h 3 %/hrelative growth rate
Integration of various disciplins
B i th h i ti l i tiBasic growth mechanisms – spatial organisation
Tip-base gradient
Arabidopsis
No spatial gradients
poplar
Basic growth processesBasic growth processes are not understood
Identification of key genes
Nicotiana tabacum
… integration of spatial-temporal dynamics ….
6,47,2
88,8
[%/h
]te
(% /
h)0,81,62,43,2
44,85,6
Rel
ativ
e W
uchs
rate
W
uchs
rat
18 20 22 24 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
-0,80
R
Zeit [h]
20
103
04050
Rel
.
Time (h)-0,8-0 0-0,8 0,8-1,6 1,6-2,4 2,4-3,2 3,2-44-4,8 4,8-5,6 5,6-6,4 6,4-7,2 7,2-8 8-8,8
0( )
Genomicstransgenics
Test your hypothesis
transgenics
Intensity of environmental fluctuations correlates with dynamics of plant control processy
Leaf Root
Resources Light CO oxygen Nutrients waterResources Light, CO2 , oxygen Nutrients, water
Physicalcharacteristics
Low density, gaseous High density, solid and liquid (aqueous)q ( q )
Chemicalcomposition
Gaseous, well mixed Patchy, chemical and mechanical compartments
Variability/Heterogeneity
Short-term, no significant bufferStrong temporal fluctuations
Buffered,spatially structured
Plant control processes buffer environmental fluctuations
Plant control processes favour quick response to environmental changese o e ta c a ges
Significant impact on breeding strategies for resource use efficiency
Phenomics and screening for improvedresource use efficiencyresource use efficiency
Thermography
Water and Growth
Chl h ll fl
PhotosynthesisMagnetic resonance imaging
Nutrients and Carbon
Thermography
transpiration water content
Chlorophyll - fluorescence
photosynthesis
Magnetic resonance imaging
root, growth,fluxes in l t d il
Digital Growth Analysis
root,photosynthesis/ i i
Hyperspectral imagingplants and soil
PlanTIS (PET)leaves,canopies
compositioncarbon transport-Leaf/ shoot
High Throughput
-root -soil
Throughput Screening
(lab and field)
dand
Modelling
• Resource use efficency important for bioenergy crops • Plant resource use efficiency: environmental dynamics and
l t i ti l d t l lplant responses on various spatial and temporal scales• Growth is essential for RUE• Novel technologies for quantitative analysis• Novel technologies for quantitative analysis
MRI-PET integration for plantsPhenomics – above and belowgroundPhenomics above and belowground
• Implementation of increased RUE in bioenergy cropsIntegration of environmental dynamics and plant structural g y pand functional dynamics
Opportunities for interaction US and EUOpportunities for interaction US and EU• Novel concepts for resource use efficiency in bioenergy crops• Technological developments and utilisation of novel technologiesTechnological developments and utilisation of novel technologies