CSU biologists receive DOE grant

FORT COLLINS – Three Colorado State University plant biologists have
received a $1.35 million grant from the United States Department of
Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to genetically engineer
better plants that could provide more physical mass for biofuels.

The grant is part of the DOE’s Plant Feedstock Genomics for Bioenergy
program, and is one of only 10 grants awarded nationwide. CSU is the
only Colorado institution to receive one of the grants.

Professor Jan Leach and associate professor John McKay, both in the
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, and
professor Daniel Bush, in the Department of Biology, will lead the
project.

The goal of the project is to engineer grasses that can produce more biomass per acre without the need for additional land.

“Between the College of Agricultural Sciences and the College of Natural
Sciences, we have an excellent combination of expertise in rice and
quantitative genetics combined with physiology and biochemistry that’s
related to bioenergy,´ said Leach, principal investigator on the grant.

Partners on the grant include representatives from the International
Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, Virginia Tech, and Rutgers
University.