Two scientists with The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation are co-principal investigators on a pair of grants that received a total of $1 million in funding from the federal government.

Working with Agricultural Research Service and the University of Georgia, Joe Bouton, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Director of the Forage Improvement Division, and Malay Saha, Ph.D., are co-principal investigators on two projects funded jointly by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for biobased fuels research that will accelerate the development of alternative fuel resources in the United States.

The DOE and USDA made 11 awards in 2007, totaling $8.3 million, continuing an initiative begun in 2006 by the federal government to conduct fundamental research in biomass genomics that will provide the scientific foundation to facilitate and accelerate the use of plants for biofuels.

"These grants show the national commitment to support the emerging biofuels industry in the United States," Bouton said. "The fact that the Noble Foundation is invested in two of the 11 projects with national partners speaks to the quality of our science and our ability to collaborate with other organizations to impact our state, our country and this emerging industry."

The first of the two grants received $600,000 in funding and combined Bouton and Saha with the Agricultural Research Service (Western Regional Research Center) on a three-year research project. Entitled Linkage Analysis Appropriate for Comparative Genome Analysis and Trait Selection in Switchgrass, this project will create a comprehensive molecular marker system and genetic linkage map for switchgrass.

This map will use genetic markers to flag desired traits, such as biomass yield and component traits. When a molecular marker is used in plant breeding, the presence of such valuable traits can be identified much sooner, allowing scientists to develop new varieties quicker.

Bouton and Saha were also co-principal investigators on a $400,000, three-year grant awarded to the University of Georgia for the project entitled Resource Development in Switchgrass, An Important Bioenergy Crop for the USA. This project works to align the switchgrass genetic map with like maps produced in rice, maize and sorghum. Since the genes controlling yield and other critical traits have previously been mapped in these important grass crops, this alignment should assist breeders in finding the same genes in switchgrass.

"Both these projects will lay the groundwork for current and future research," Bouton said. "This research will be critical to establishing switchgrass as a primary contributor to the biofuels industry."

The development of a molecular marker system is just one aspect of the Noble Foundation's efforts to assist the biofuels industry. The Noble Foundation's work concerns a broad range of feedstock development matters, including creating high-yielding bioenergy crops, developing crop production and management plans for agricultural producers and engineering advanced feedstocks tailored to specific ethanol conversion processes.

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News Release Issued: June 25, 2007

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a nonprofit organization conducting agricultural, forage improvement and plant biology research; assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs; and providing grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and health organizations.