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Biotechnology and synthetic biology approaches for metabolic engineering of bioenergy crops
Author(s) -
Shih Patrick M.,
Liang Yan,
Loqué Dominique
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/tpj.13176
Subject(s) - microbiology and biotechnology , bioenergy , synthetic biology , population , metabolic engineering , biology , genetically modified crops , biochemical engineering , world population , engineering , transgene , biofuel , computational biology , ecology , genetics , demography , sociology , developing country , gene
Summary The Green Revolution has fuelled an exponential growth in human population since the mid‐20th century. Due to population growth, food and energy demands will soon surpass supply capabilities. To overcome these impending problems, significant improvements in genetic engineering will be needed to complement breeding efforts in order to accelerate the improvement of agronomical traits. The new field of plant synthetic biology has emerged in recent years and is expected to support rapid, precise, and robust engineering of plants. In this review, we present recent advances made in the field of plant synthetic biology, specifically in genome editing, transgene expression regulation, and bioenergy crop engineering, with a focus on traits related to lignocellulose, oil, and soluble sugars. Ultimately, progress and innovation in these fields may facilitate the development of beneficial traits in crop plants to meet society's bioenergy needs.