Plants to power: bioenergy to fuel the future

Bioenergy should play an essential part in reaching targets to replace petroleum-based transportation fuels with a viable alternative, and in reducing long-term carbon dioxide emissions, if environmental and economic sustainability are considered carefully. Here, we review different platforms, crops, and biotechnology-based improvements for sustainable bioenergy. Among the different platforms, there are two obvious advantages to using lignocellulosic biomass for ethanol production: higher net energy gain and lower production costs. However, the use of lignocellulosic ethanol as a viable alternative to petroleum-based transportation fuels largely depends on plant biotechnology breakthroughs. We examine how biotechnology, such as lignin modification, abiotic stress resistance, nutrition usage, in planta expression of cell wall digestion enzymes, biomass production, feedstock establishment, biocontainment of transgenes, metabolic engineering, and basic research, can be used to address the challenges faced by bioenergy crop production.     

Organogenesis: cutting to the chase

Gonad morphogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans requires two secreted proteases. Recent studies show that alterations of the extracellular matrix component fibulin-1 rescue gonadogenesis in the absence of these proteases. This finding is a critical step toward understanding the role of extracellular matrix in organogenesis.     

荒野之旅:达赉湖

三时许,夜幕悄然卷起,残云散尽,几颗廖廖晨星相继隐去。湖东部的天空渐渐出现鱼肚白色,继而泛出粉红色霞光,朝红。远处的天空、草原和湖水像燃起的熊熊的大火。太阳升起来了,湖面上金光闪烁,一群群水鸟高声叫嚷着冲下来,亲吻着湖面,上下飞旋觅食,鸟身也披着一层金光,远处的天空和草原也布满了耀眼的金光。