Azolla domestication towards a biobased economy?. Issue 3 (4th February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Brouwer, Paul; Bräutigam, Andrea; Külahoglu, Canan; Tazelaar, Anne O. E.; Kurz, Samantha; Nierop, Klaas G. J.; van der, Adrie; Weber, Andreas P. M.; Schluepmann, Henriette
• Is Part Of: New phytologist. Volume 202:Issue 3(2014)
• Page Start: 1069
• Page End: 1082
• Publication Date: 2014-02-04
• Subjects: Botany -- Periodicals; 580
• DOI: 10.1111/nph.12708
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0028-646X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="nph12708-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p> <list id="nph12708-list-0001" list-type="bullet"> <list-item> <p>Due to its phenomenal growth requiring neither nitrogen fertilizer nor arable land and its biomass composition, the mosquito fern <italic>Azolla</italic> is a candidate crop to yield food, fuels and chemicals sustainably. To advance <italic>Azolla</italic> domestication, we research its dissemination, storage and transcriptome.</p> </list-item> <list-item> <p>Methods for dissemination, cross‐fertilization and cryopreservation of the symbiosis <italic>Azolla filiculoides–Nostoc azollae</italic> are tested based on the fern spores. To study molecular processes in <italic>Azolla</italic> including spore induction<italic>, </italic> a database of 37 649 unigenes from RNAseq of microsporocarps, megasporocarps and sporophytes was assembled, then validated.</p> </list-item> <list-item> <p>Spores obtained year‐round germinated <italic>in vitro</italic> within 26 d. <italic>In vitro</italic> fertilization rates reached 25%. Cryopreservation permitted storage for at least 7 months. The unigene database entirely covered central metabolism and to a large degree covered cellular processes and regulatory networks. Analysis of genes engaged in transition to sexual reproduction revealed a FLOWERING LOCUS T‐like protein in ferns with special features induced in sporulating <italic>Azolla</italic> fronds.</p> </list-item> <list-item> <p>Although domestication of a fern–cyanobacteria symbiosis may seem a daunting task, we conclude that the time is ripe and that results generated will serve to more widely access biochemicals in fern biomass for a biobased economy.</p> </list-item> </list> </p> </abstract>