W339
Multilevel Modelling of Lignocellulosic Biomass Accumulation in Eucalyptus

Date: Sunday, January 10, 2016
Time: 2:30 PM
Room: Sunrise - Meeting House
Eshchar Mizrachi , Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Research Institute and Genomics Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Desre' Pinard , Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Research Institute and Genomics Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
ACF Gutiérrez , Dept. of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, U.Ghent, Dept. of Information Technology (INTEC, iMINDS), U.Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
Lieven Verbeke , Dept. of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, U.Ghent, Dept. of Information Technology (INTEC, iMINDS), U.Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
Colan G. Balkwill , Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Research Institute and Genomics Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Drew Behrens , Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Research Institute and Genomics Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Elodie Ekoka , Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Research Institute and Genomics Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Steven G Hussey , Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Research Institute and Genomics Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Yves Van de Peer , VIB Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent, Belgium
Kathleen Marchal , VIB Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent, Belgium
Alexander A. Myburg , Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Research Institute and Genomics Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Eucalyptus has become an excellent model genus for studying lignocellulosic biomass accumulation due to the availability of a relatively small, high-confidence assembled genome, abundant gene expression studies and diverse species, populations and clonal collections. Through comparative genomics and transcriptomics approaches we have annotated most known genes and pathways known to be involved in xylogenesis. Despite these resources and years of xylogenesis research in Arabidopsis thaliana and Populus species and hybrids, we are still far from a complete understanding of the molecular regulation of carbon sequestration, allocation and partitioning for lignocellulosic biomass accumulation. To address this and to add comparative data for cross-species comparisons, we have produced multiple levels of quantitative biological data for carbon source, transport and sink tissues in three replicates from an E. grandis clone, including transcriptomics (mRNA and long non-coding RNA, small noncoding RNAs and miRNAs, proteomics and metabolomics. We also consider DNA- and important histone-modifications in these same samples. We integrate plastid and mitochondrial genomes and their encoded genes into this model, and the integration of these organelles’ biology during wood formation, an important component rarely considered till now. Reconstruction of this and integration with accompanying systems genetics research in Eucalyptus populations is producing one of the most comprehensive models of wood formation and the regulation of lignocellulosic biomass accumulation.
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