A new
generation of fuel crops—plants designed specifically to serve as feedstocks
for fuels—would provide a clean, green and renewable
alternative to the burning of fossil fuels, but only if their production is
cost effective. These biofuels would require, among other developments, plants
whose sugars are readily extracted and fermented into fuels by microbes.
Researchers with the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have
demonstrated that proteomic technology may offer a way to harness this exciting
potential. Proteomics, a branch of the life sciences that studies proteins or
peptides, particularly their functions and interactions, specifically considers
technologies suited for large-scale, multiplexed analysis of proteins and
peptides. Proteomics differs from conventional protein analysis such as
immunoassay because it measures more than one protein or peptide simultaneously
from a single sample.
Benjamin
Schwessinger, a grass geneticist with JBEI’s Feedstocks Division, and his
colleagues conducted the first proteomic analysis of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), a North American
native prairie grass widely viewed as one of the most promising of all the fuel
crops.
“Plant cell walls or
biomass are costly to deconstruct for sugar release for downstream applications
such as biofuels, but genetic modifications to plant cell wall structure could
result in significant downstream economic impacts,” Schwessinger explains.
In profiling the switchgrass
endomembrane from 10-day old dark grown shoots, Schwessinger and his team
identified 1,750 unique proteins in shoots of the hardy perennial crop.
“That we were able to identify such a large number of proteins in our
samples shows that proteomics will be useful when we start digging for proteins
that will enable us to manipulate switchgrass for increased biofuel
production.”
The global proteomics market is expected to more than double its $5
billion value in 2014 to more than $11.6 billion in 2019, reflecting a
five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18%. The main proteomics market
segments include research, drug discovery and development, diagnostics and
applied (agricultural, environmental and forensics).
The research/drug discovery and development segment of the market is
forecast to reach almost $6.8 billion in 2019, up from almost $4 billion in
2014, corresponding with an 11.4% CAGR.
Rapid changes in technical fields such as biochips,
mass spectrometry, single cell analysis and multi-omics are
driving new products and applications in proteomics, creating unique market
opportunities.
For our BCC
Research report on proteomics, visit the following link:
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