Over $8 million was paid out to eleven projects this week, the projects are to study ways of producing biofuels from rice and switch grass, and how to get better yields from corn etc.

The awards are managed by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER), and the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) and the recipients are as follows:

The funded projects are:

Strategies for Using Molecular Markers to Simultaneously Improve Corn Grain Yield and Stover Quality for Ethanol Production,” University of Minnesota, $715,000

Development of Genomic Tools to Improve of Prairie Cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), a Highly Productive Bioenergy Feedstock Crop,” South Dakota State University, $420,000

Identification of Cell Wall Synthesis Regulatory Genes Controlling Biomass Characteristics and Yield in Rice (Oryza sativa), Mississippi State University, $1,300,000

Resource Development in Switchgrass, An Important Bioenergy Crop for the USA, University of Georgia, $400,000 Towards a Map of the Populus Biomass Protein-Protein Interaction Network,” Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, $1,200,000

Development of Brown Midrib Sweet Sorghum as a Dual-Source Feedstock for Ethanol Production, University of Florida, $750,000

Analysis of Small RNAs and miRNAs Associated with Abiotic Stress Responses in Brachypodium distachyon, University of Delaware, $600,000

Linkage Analysis Appropriate for Comparative Genome Analysis and Trait Selection in Switchgrass, and Insertional Mutagenesis of Brachypodium distachyon USDA-ARS Western Regional Research Center (Albany, CA), $600,000 each

Developing Association Mapping in Polyploid Perennial Biofuel Grasses, USDA-ARS (Cornell University), $700,000

A Functional Genomics Approach to Altering Crown Architecture in Populus: Maximizing Carbon Capture in Trees Grown in Dense Plantings, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, $1,040,000

This work could eventually find more practical ways of producing biofuels.

Source [Auto Blog Green]