A Life-Cycle Analysis of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn-Based Ethanol

1. Introduction pg. 1 2. Review of the Scientific Papers, Technical Reports, Data Sets, and Other Information that have Become Available Since 2010 and Relate to Current Emissions Levels in Each Emissions Category pg. 9 3. Current GHG Emission Values for Each Emissions Source Category pg. 88 4. Projected GHG LCA Emissions Values for a Business-As-Usual Scenario and a Building-Blocks Scenario for Corn Ethanol in 2022 pg. 15

A Life-Cycle Analysis of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn-Based Ethanol

1. Introduction pg. 1 2. Review of the Scientific Papers, Technical Reports, Data Sets, and Other Information that have Become Available Since 2010 and Relate to Current Emissions Levels in Each Emissions Category pg. 9 3. Current GHG Emission Values for Each Emissions Source Category pg. 88 4. Projected GHG LCA Emissions Values for a Business-As-Usual Scenario and a Building-Blocks Scenario for Corn Ethanol in 2022 pg. 15

Water stress is a component of cold acclimation process essential for inducing full freezing tolerance in strawberry

The factors involved in cold acclimation process and their role in inducing freezing tolerance were studied in strawberry (Fragaria X ananassa) plants. The results show that low temperature and water stress are two key components of cold acclimation, in that low temperature typically induced water stress in the plants. After a 2-week exposure of plants to 3/1°C (day/night temperature), the leaf water potential decreased markedly to below -1.6 MPa. While both of these components contribute significantly to the induction of freezing tolerance, water stress is a dominant factor in inducing freezing tolerance, contributing roughly to 56% of freezing tolerance acquired by natural cold acclimation. Typical cold acclimation treatment of plants for 2 weeks increased their freezing tolerance by about 14°C to -20.7°C while the same treatment, in the absence of the accompanying water stress, increased their freezing tolerance only by 5°C, which indicates the importance of water stress during cold acclimation. Furthermore, both low temperature and water stress independently induced the orthologs of cold-responsive genes, COR47 and COR78, however, stronger expression of these genes was observed in response to cold acclimating conditions. Thus, these results show that both of these factors are essential elements of cold acclimation process and play an important role in inducing freezing tolerance in strawberry plants

Genetic analysis reveals a complex regulatory network modulating CBF gene expression and Arabidopsis response to abiotic stress

Arabidopsis CBF genes (CBF1–CBF3) encode transcription factors having a major role in cold acclimation, the adaptive process whereby certain plants increase their freezing tolerance in response to low non-freezing temperatures. Under these conditions, the CBF genes are induced and their corresponding proteins stimulate the expression of target genes configuring low-temperature transcriptome and conditioning Arabidopsis freezing tolerance. CBF2 seems to be the most determinant of the CBFs since it also regulates CBF1 and CBF3 expression. Despite the relevance of CBF genes in cold acclimation, little is known about the molecular components that control their expression. To uncover factors acting upstream of CBF2, mutagenized Arabidopsis containing the luciferase reporter gene under the control of the CBF2 promoter were screened for plants with de-regulated CBF2 expression. Here, the identification and characterization of five of these mutants, named acex (altered CBF2 expression), is presented. Three mutants show increased levels of cold-induced CBF2 transcripts compared with wild-type plants, the other two exhibiting reduced levels. Some mutants are also affected in cold induction of CBF1 and CBF3. Furthermore, the mutants characterized display unique phenotypes for tolerance to abiotic stresses, including freezing, dehydration, and high salt. These results demonstrate that cold induction of CBF2 is subjected to both positive and negative regulation through different signal transduction pathways, some of them also mediating the expression of other CBF genes as well as Arabidopsis responses to abiotic stresses

REGIA, An EU Project on Functional Genomics of Transcription Factors From Arabidopsis Thaliana

Transcription factors (TFs) are regulatory proteins that have played a pivotal role in the evolution of eukaryotes and that also have great biotechnological potential. REGIA (REgulatory Gene Initiative in Arabidopsis) is an EU-funded project involving 29 European laboratories with the objective of determining the function of virtually all transcription factors from the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. REGIA involves: 1. the definition of TF gene expression patterns in Arabidopsis; 2. the identification of mutations at TF loci; 3. the ectopic expression of TFs (or derivatives) in Arabidopsis and in crop plants; 4. phenotypic analysis of the mutants and mis-expression lines, including both RNA and metabolic profiling; 5. the systematic analysis of interactions between TFs; and 6. the generation of a bioinformatics infrastructure to access and integrate all this information. We expect that this programme will establish the full biotechnological potential of plant TFs, and provide insights into hierarchies, redundancies, and interdependencies, and their evolution. The project involves the preparation of both a TF gene array for expression analysis and a normalised full length open reading frame (ORF) library of TFs in a yeast two hybrid vector; the applications of these resources should extend beyond the scope of this programme

A comparison of the low temperature transcriptomes and CBF regulons of three plant species that differ in freezing tolerance: Solanum commersonii, Solanum tuberosum, and Arabidopsis thaliana

Solanum commersonii and Solanum tuberosum are closely related plant species that differ in their abilities to cold acclimate; whereas S. commersonii increases in freezing tolerance in response to low temperature, S. tuberosum does not. In Arabidopsis thaliana, cold-regulated genes have been shown to contribute to freezing tolerance, including those that comprise the CBF regulon, genes that are controlled by the CBF transcription factors. The low temperature transcriptomes and CBF regulons of S. commersonii and S. tuberosum were therefore compared to determine whether there might be differences that contribute to their differences in ability to cold acclimate. The results indicated that both plants alter gene expression in response to low temperature to similar degrees with similar kinetics and that both plants have CBF regulons composed of hundreds of genes. However, there were considerable differences in the sets of genes that comprised the low temperature transcriptomes and CBF regulons of the two species. Thus differences in cold regulatory programmes may contribute to the differences in freezing tolerance of these two species. However, 53 groups of putative orthologous genes that are cold-regulated in S. commersonii, S. tuberosum, and A. thaliana were identified. Given that the evolutionary distance between the two Solanum species and A. thaliana is 112–156 million years, it seems likely that these conserved cold-regulated genes—many of which encode transcription factors and proteins of unknown function—have fundamental roles in plant growth and development at low temperature

The CBF gene family in hexaploid wheat and its relationship to the phylogenetic complexity of cereal CBFs

Most temperate plants tolerate both chilling and freezing temperatures whereas many species from tropical regions suffer chilling injury when exposed to temperatures slightly above freezing. Cold acclimation induces the expression of cold-regulated genes needed to protect plants against freezing stress. This induction is mediated, in part, by the CBF transcription factor family. To understand the evolution and function of this family in cereals, we identified and characterized 15 different CBF genes from hexaploid wheat. Our analyses reveal that wheat species, T. aestivum and T. monococcum, may contain up to 25 different CBF genes, and that Poaceae CBFs can be classified into 10 groups that share a common phylogenetic origin and similar structural characteristics. Six of these groups (IIIc, IIId, IVa, IVb, IVc and IVd) are found only in the Pooideae suggesting they represent the CBF response machinery that evolved recently during colonization of temperate habitats. Expression studies reveal that five of the Pooideae-specific groups display higher constitutive and low temperature inducible expression in the winter cultivar, and a diurnal regulation pattern during growth at warm temperature. The higher constitutive and inducible expression within these CBF groups is an inherited trait that may play a predominant role in the superior low temperature tolerance capacity of winter cultivars and possibly be a basis of genetic variability in freezing tolerance within the Pooideae subfamily

Low temperature and light regulate delta 12 fatty acid desaturases (FAD2) at a transcriptional level in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum)

Lipid modifying enzymes play a key role in the development of cold stress tolerance in cold-resistant plants such as cereals. However, little is known about the role of the endogenous enzymes in cold-sensitive species such as cotton. Delta 12 fatty acid desaturases (FAD2), known to participate in adaptation to low temperatures through acyl chain modifications were used in gene expression studies in order to identify parameters of plant response to low temperatures. The induction of microsomal delta 12 fatty acid desaturases at an mRNA level under cold stress in plants is shown here for first time. Quantitative PCR showed that though both delta 12 omega 6 fatty acid desaturase genes FAD2-3 and FAD2-4 identified in cotton are induced under cold stress, FAD2-4 induction is significantly higher than FAD2-3. The induction of both isoforms was light regulated, in contrast a third isoform FAD2-2 was not affected by cold or light. Stress tolerance and light regulatory elements were identified in the predicted promoters of both FAD2-3 and FAD2-4 genes. Di-unsaturated fatty acid species rapidly increased in the microsomal fraction isolated from cotton leaves, following cold stress. Expression analysis patterns were correlated with the observed increase in both total and microsomal fatty acid unsaturation levels suggesting the direct role of the FAD2 genes in membrane adaptation to cold stress