First Complete Full Genetic Map of Promising Energy Crop

ScienceDaily.com

ScienceDaily (Mar. 19, 2012) — Researchers in Wales and the United States have collaborated to complete the first high-resolution, comprehensive genetic map of a promising energy crop called miscanthus.

The results -- published in the current edition of the peer-reviewed, online journal PLoS One -- provide a significant breakthrough towards advancing the production of bioenergy.

The breakthrough results from the long-term collaboration between energy crop company Ceres, Inc., based in Thousand Oaks, California, USA, and the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University in Wales. The IBERS team created the collection of genetically related plants and Ceres then sequenced and analyzed the DNA. In other crops, this type of comprehensive genetic mapping has significantly shortened product development timelines.

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