ABSTRACT: Transgenic Plants with Increased Cellulose Expression

Background

Cellulose is a major building block of plant cell walls and provides mechanical strength and rigidity. Wood contains 30 to 50% cellulose, 20 to 30% lignin and 20 to 30% hemicellulose (Higuchi, 1997).  Since many of society's fiber, chemical and energy demands are met through the industrial-scale production of cellulose from wood, genetic engineering of the cellulose biosynthesis machinery in plants could produce, for example, higher pulp and cellulose yields.

ABSTRACT

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have developed recombinant plant cells that overexpress certain members of the Strubbelig Receptor Family (SRF).  Specifically plant cells that overexpress SRF-6, SRF-7 or its homologs have increased cellulose production when compared to a wild-type cells.  Juvenile plants with increased cellulose production would allow greater returns on investment by pulp and paper industries and provide increased cellulosic materials for biofuel production and fermentation processes.

Patent Status