PNAS study authors (left to right): Jerry Jenkins; JGI Plant Program head Jeremy Schmutz; Adam Healey; and, study senior author Tom Juenger of UT-Austin. Jenkins and Healey are part of the JGI plant analysis team at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.
To better understand the genetic basis of local adaptation, researchers from HudsonAlpha, University of Texas at Austin, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI) established community gardens of switchgrass plants in 10 different field sites on a north-south gradient across the United States.
By field-testing the adaptability of switchgrass hybrids in a wide range of environmental conditions, researchers hope to eventually develop a “generalist” switchgrass that would thrive and produce high levels of biomass in various regions.
Read the full story from the Joint Genome Institute.
