Genomic resources and transcriptome mining in Agave tequilana

Abstract

Different species of Agave are grown commercially in Mexico for the production of alcoholic beverages and fibers. These plants are well adapted to dry, arid conditions and can be cultivated on land which is unsuitable for staple crops such as corn or beans. A substantial amount of waste material in the form of discarded leaves or stem tissue is produced from commercial applications and an attractive alternative proposition is to employ this waste for bioenergy production. To date little basic research at the moleculargenetic level in agave has been carried out and more detailed and directed work in this area is necessary in order to fully develop agave species as bioenergy crops. The current genomic resources available for agave and the potential for transcriptome mining in relation to bioenergy applications are discussed.

Potential of Plants from the Genus Agave as Bioenergy Crops

“…Thus, generating extensive EST or genomic sequence data would be another area of potential research for the development of Agave as potential bioenergy crop. Two research institutes in Mexico have recently been producing general transcriptome data for A. tequilana [46]. Although the data are not yet publicly available, the authors mention that they will be released soon.…”

“…In the case of lignin biosynthesis, they found sequences for all ten enzymes involved in monolignol biosynthesis. The agave transcriptome database could be available for interested researchers by contacting the authors [46].…”

CAM Photosynthesis in Bromeliads and Agaves: What Can We Learn from These Plants?

“…Similar to other xeric plants, many species of Agavaceae exhibit relatively low growth rates under both natural and optimal environmental conditions. On the other hand, sometimes impressive rates of biomass productivity can be found in Agave plants [116], which might be associated with their wide range of anatomical and physiological adaptations to survive and thrive under water-limited conditions. Among the physiological adaptations exhibited by Agavaceae representatives, the capacity to express CAM photosynthesis naturally deserves to be highlighted and, therefore, will be the main focus of this chapter section.…”

“…Among the physiological adaptations exhibited by Agavaceae representatives, the capacity to express CAM photosynthesis naturally deserves to be highlighted and, therefore, will be the main focus of this chapter section. The current and ancient uses of agaves for food, beverages and diverse natural products have already been recently covered by excellent reviews [116][117][118] and will not be emphasized in this chapter.…”

Innovative Biological Solutions to Challenges in Sustainable Biofuels Production

“…Recently, we initiated an Agave genomics project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA) to obtain a genomic and biochemical-based understanding of CAM in Agave necessary for its consideration as a biofuel feedstock. Several other Agave www.intechopen.com transcriptome sequencing projects have been initiated in the United Kingdom (J Hartwell, personal communication) and Mexico (Simpson et al, 2011). Sweet sorghum is a potential feedstock for bioalcohol production, with advantages in hot and dry climatic conditions over alternatives, such as sugarcane or maize (Raghuwanshi & Birch, 2010) because it has higher tolerance to salt and drought compared to sugarcane and corn that are currently used for biofuel production.…”