Systems Biology and Adaptation in Switchgrass: Discovering Mechanisms Underlying Plant-Microbe-Soil Interactions and Abiotic Stress Tolerance

Foundational research to improve bioenergy crop productivity will support domestic energy resources, and create opportunities for rural communities. Perennial grass feedstocks are candidate bioenergy crops for use in biofuels and bioproducts. Improving perennial grasses like switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) to withstand variable abiotic stresses across the wide area of deployment is needed to support these emerging industries. These stressors often involve complex interactions at the plant-microbe-soil interface. This research addresses switchgrass productivity and stress tolerance using evolutionary analyses, by studying plant and microbial drivers of abiotic stress tolerance, and through the development of functional genomic tools for switchgrass. An important goal is to develop a systems biology infrastructure for studying abiotic stress resilience with a focus on discovering mechanisms and genes controlling both freezing and drought tolerance. This research will capitalize on established switchgrass common gardens spanning the USA to better understand adaptation; pinpoint key genes with genome-wide association studies and mutant-based functional genomics; engineer plant–microbial interactions; assess traits conferring freezing and drought tolerance; and provide artificial intelligence driven insight into switchgrass performance. In optimizing plant material, the research aims to deepen understanding of plant–microbe interactions across plant genotypes and environments, and then exploit this understanding to develop synthetic communities of microbes that improve plant performance. Ultimately, these studies will manipulate critical plant-microbe-soil traits to improve the resilience of biofuel feedstocks.

This research was selected for funding by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research.