IMPROVEMENT OF CROP PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL END USES

IMPROVEMENT OF CROP PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL END USES

Improvement of Crop Plants for Industrial End Uses Edited by P. RANALLI C.R.A. -ISCI, Bologna, Italy

A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN-10 1-4020-5485-8 (HB) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-5485-3 (HB) ISBN-10 1-4020-5486-6 (e-book) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-5486-0 (e-book) Published by Springer, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. www.springer.com Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved 2007 Springer No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. The use of functional genomics to understand components of plant metabolism and the regulation occurring at molecular, cellular and whole plant levels Paolo Pesaresi.....1 2. Improving photosynthesis and yield potential Jeffrey S. Amthor..... 27 3. Marker assisted selection and genomics of industrial plants Giuseppe Mandolino.... 59 4. Improved agronomy and management of crop plants for industrial end uses Lorenzo Barbanti, Andrea Monti and Gianpietro Venturi... 83 5. Lignin manipulation for fibre improvement Jennifer Stephens and Claire Halpin......129 6. Improvement of fibre and composites for new markets Marcel Toonen, Michel Ebskamp and Robert Kohler.......155 7. In planta novel starch synthesis Ravindra N. Chibbar, Seedhabadee Ganeshan and Monica Båga...181 8. Bioethanol: role and production technologies David Chiaramonti.....209 9. Preface...vii Complex lipid biosynthesis and its manipulation in plants Irina A. Guschina and John L. Harwood....253 10. Biodiesel production Jon Van Gerpen...281 11. Bioelectricity and cogeneration Giuliano Grassi and Alexander Allan.....291 12. Genetic improvement of crops for energy generation: comparison of different provision chains with respect to biomass and biofuel production Paolo Ranalli and Mario Di Candilo......307 v

vi Table of Contents 13. Anaerobic digestion: a multi-faceted process for energy, environmental management and rural development Rudolf Braun..335 14. Molecular farming for antigen (vaccine) production in plants Chiara Lico, Selene Baschieri, Carla Marusic and Eugenio Benvenuto.....417 15. Molecular farming of antibodies in plants Richard M. Twyman, Stefan Schillberg and Rainer Fischer.... 435 16. Molecular tailoring and boosting of bioactive secondary metabolites in medicinal plants Antonella Leone, Stefania Grillo, Luigi Monti and Teodoro Cardi....471 17. Potential market for bio-based products in the context of European greenhouse gas reduction strategies Bengt Hillring and Matti Parikka...509 Index...523

Preface New uses are already being found for existing crops (e.g. bioethanol and biodiesel from oil crops) and new crops are being developed (e.g. willow/poplar for biomass production, and primrose for pharmaceutical uses). Advanced biotechnologies will enable breeders to produce a whole generation of new crops for specialist needs ( designer crops ), including raw materials for the energy, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. In this book, the advances gained in different fields of research are reviewed. In particular, research carried out on the application of biotechnology in order to: i) produce new compounds by expressing foreign heterologous genes in specific parts of a plant, ii) or modify pathways to influence quality and/or yield of existing indigenous target molecules, iii) or bioprocess plant or organic waste stream into value-added products. The gained know how is basical to identify bottlenecks in the major production chains and to propose actions for moving these issues forward. This book gives an overview of recent research and technological development in biotechnology and biobased products and addresses the following thematic priorities: Metabolic engineering. Work on gene sequencing (genomics) and cataloguing the proteins that genes express (proteomics) has reached relevant advances in recent years. Unfortunately, research on plant metabolic pathways attracted, during the 1990s, much lower levels of funding than genomics. Consequently, a paucity of knowledge in the area of plant metabolic processes is identified as the main scientific constraint to the rational development of bio-based products using biotechnology. Plant breeding tools. Conventional breeding can dramatically increase yields and improve biomaterial qualities. Moreover, genetic markers can now assist plant breeders by identifying lines with genes linked vii

viii Preface to particular traits. However, genetic manipulation offers the greatest potential for producing raw materials in a volume and of a quality attractive to industry. It is also a tool for producing novel biomaterials which are unobtainable in plants by any other means. Renewable biomass for energy generation. Comparison of different provision chains with respect to bioethanol and biodiesel fuel production has been investigated. Cogeneration of biomass-based products as substitutes of fossils in the frame of greenhouse gas reduction strategies was explored. Vegetable oil-based solvents and lubrificants are already used in many industrial niche markets, but industry may soon be looking for a much greater range of plantplay a key role in raising oil yields, fine-tuning metabolic processes derived oils as alternatives to fossil-based oils. Biotechnology will to improve oil quality, and engineering novel oils for specific applications. Fibres and composites. Modified plants with improved fibre qualities could exploit new markets for biodegradable composites, textiles and fabrics. Biotechnology is also helping to improve the efficiency of wood and pulp processing by reducing the content of lignin and other polymers in woody plant tissue. Fibres from novel crops are replacing petroleum-based composite materials used by industry. Biopharmaceuticals. The plants have great potential for economical, large-scale biopharmaceutical production and they have been explored to produce vaccine components, such as antigens and/or adjuvants; in this field, plants can be used merely as biofactories for the massive production of the product of interest or, in addition, as a tool for vaccine delivery. The different plant-based production systems used to synthesize recombinant antibodies are discussed and the merits of plants compared with other platforms evaluated. Conclusively, the new book provides concerns useful to promote an increase of the productivity of crops by using functional genomics (to understand the regulation of plant metabolism at molecular, cellular and whole plants) and the improvement of photosynthetic efficiency (to design new plants with enhanced raw materials percent and recovery).

Preface ix The Chapters of this book have been written by experts from all around the world. Consequently, the book is expected to be of great interest for scientists, researchers, farmers, processors and retailers, but also for students, technocrats and planners interested in the progress made with the development of new industrial crops. Paolo Ranalli