Australia
April 28, 2008
Scientists working within the
joint CSIRO/Grains
Research and Development Corporation Crop Biofactories
Initiative (CBI) have achieved a major advance by accumulating
30 per cent of an unusual fatty acid (UFA) in the model plant,
Arabidopsis.
UFAs are usually sourced from petrochemicals to produce
plastics, paints and cosmetics. CBI is developing new
technologies for making a range of UFAs in oilseeds, to provide
Australia with a head start in the emerging ‘bioeconomy’.
“Using crops as biofactories has many advantages, beyond the
replacement of dwindling petrochemical resources,” says the
leader of the crop development team, CSIRO’s Dr Allan Green.
“Global challenges such as population growth, climate change and
the switch from non-renewable resources are opening up many more
opportunities for bio-based products.”
“Safflower is an ideal plant for industrial production for
Australia,”
Dr Green, CSIRO Plant Industry Division.The production of
biofactory plants can be matched to demand and will provide
farmers with new, high-value crops bred to suit their growing
conditions. The technology is low greenhouse gas generating,
sustainable and can reinvigorate agribusiness.
“We are confident we have the right genes, an understanding of
the biosynthesis pathways and the right breeding skills to
produce an oilseed plant with commercially viable UFA levels in
the near future,” Dr Green says.
The team will announce the successful completion of the first
stage of the CBI on 28 April during the Fifth Annual World
Congress on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioprocessing (WCIBB),
being held in Chicago, Illinois, from 27-30 April 2008.
The team’s selection of safflower as the target crop will also
be announced.
“Safflower is an ideal plant for industrial production for
Australia,” Dr Green says. “It is hardy and easy to grow, widely
adapted to Australian production regions and easily isolated
from food production systems.”
The CBI is a 12-year project which aims to add value to the
Australian agricultural and chemical industries by developing
technologies to produce novel industrial compounds from
genetically modified oilseed crops.
The project focuses on three key areas; Industrial Oils, Complex
Monomers and Protein Biopolymers. CBI project leaders will
present the latest research findings in each of these three
areas at the WCIBB in Chicago which will showcase innovations in
the convergence of biotechnology, chemistry and agriculture.
Other news
from the Grains
Research and Development Corporation |
|