SBIR-STTR Award

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be to increase wood production of managed loblolly pine tree farms by 20%. Global demand for forest industry products, e.g., pulp for paper, saw timber, and wood pellets for fuel, is expected to rise 60-100% by 2060. As the world's 4th largest exporter of forest products, the U.S. is well positioned to help meet these growing needs. To do so, managed loblolly pine tree farms will play a large role in supplying the demand. Using a biotechnology gene trait approach to introduce cell wall gene technology, the goal is to engineer pine trees with 20% more wood density over conventional crops. This may result in more wood material per tree, per acre with no added cost to production processing, i.e., no increase use of land, water, or fertilizers. As an added benefit, bioengineered trees with cell wall gene technologies aid in protecting the environment by sequestering more atmospheric CO2 thus helping to combat the negative effects of global climate change. Ultimately, this work may lead to the development of renewable materials needed to meet societal needs while helping to protect the environment. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase (SBIR) I project proposes to evaluate the use of a biotechnology gene trait approach to bioengineer loblolly pine for high wood density by modifying secondary cell wall gene regulation. The proposed research would utilize a newly adapted pine transformation protocol to introduce cell wall gene platform technologies, together with ubiquitously expressed and secondary wall-specific promoters, to significantly and selectively increase cell wall density in loblolly pine. Bioengineered plants will be selected using herbicide resistance and the effects of transgene incorporation analyzed through gene expression and histochemical analysis. The anticipated outcome of this project will be 400 bioengineered pine seedlings with greater strength and increased value to be tested in greenhouse and field trials once approved. This project will serve as proof-of-concept testing for select cell wall gene technologies in commercial tree crops towards technology commercialization.

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to engineer loblolly pine to increase wood density (yield) by 20% with no additional land, water, or fertilizer use requirements. With global demand for wood products expected to rise 60% by 2060, managed pine plantations will play a key role in helping to meet this need. By identifying and studying the genes that control plant development, particularly as they relate to cellulose (wood) production in the cell wall, the tree's natural ability to capture and utilize carbon dioxide (CO2) for more wood growth has been enhanced through genetic engineering. This technology will strengthen the United States' position as the leading producer and exporter of commercial wood products, i.e., pulpwood for paper, sawtimber for lumber, and wood pellets for fuel. Additionally, with advancements in the understanding of the pine genome, the work proposed here will stimulate the development of novel innovations in the field of forest genetics while the proposed genetically engineered seedlings help to address growing industry needs for commercial wood products.This SBIR Phase II project will develop a more efficient approach to engineering high wood density loblolly pine varieties. In contrast to traditional breeding, which has seen a modest 6% increase in wood density improvements over the past 20 years, this work proposes to increase wood density in pine by 20% through application of a directed, "gene trait" method to genetically engineer loblolly pine by altering secondary cell wall gene regulation. The proposed research will utilize a newly improved pine transformation protocol to scale up prototype production of tree seedlings designed with patent-pending, cell wall gene platform technologies. Also, this work establishes a pine engineering pipeline using germplasm adapted to different selective environments. This will streamline the production process while allowing for faster testing and development of technologies that improve growth traits in multiple growing regions. Specifically, plants engineered with this method will be tested for their long-term wood quality characteristics in both greenhouse and field trials. The goal of this project is to establish a commercial scale production program for loblolly pine engineered seedlings, and prepare for field testing and ultimately commercial sales of the cell wall platform technologies that have been developed.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.