Could A Delicious Peach Hold The Secret To Biofuel? | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation

via Could A Delicious Peach Hold The Secret To Biofuel? | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation.

Now, scientists are identifying genes with modern genetics that will let us design trees for this purpose. Publishing in the journal Nature Genetics, scientists in the International Peach Genome Initiative (IPGI), have published the 265-million base genome of the Lovell variety of Prunus persica, and started unraveling the genes that may unlock the potential of biofuels from trees.

By comparing the genome among 141 peach families with other plant species, researchers are mapping the unique metabolic pathways for key factors in producing biofuel. As it turns out, peaches, a close relative of poplar and other promising biofuel species, turn out to be model species to study how we might design new types of trees for energy. The fast-growing poplar, nicknamed the “DOE tree” for its central role in the Department of Energy’s cellulosic research program, is one of the targets of the recent peach research: