(CN) — Researchers are using the revolutionary gene-editing technology CRISPR to breed unique, pulp-abundant poplar trees that, as laid out in a study published Thursday, could lower the carbon footprint of paper products derived from the trees.
The trick is to grow poplars with lower levels of the substance lignin, a biopolymer that has stood in the way of cheaper large-scale production of wood fibers. In the new study, researchers used computer models to find the right chemical composition to accomplish that feat, including increasing the ratio of two "building blocks" that make up lignin as well as the carbohydrate-to-lignin ratio.
Finding the "sweet spot," the researchers say, will yield trees with higher pulp production, which would in turn decrease the environmental impact of the products they're turned into, like packaging and diapers.
“We’re using CRISPR to build a more sustainable forest,” said Rodolphe Barrangou, a pioneer in the gene editing field and professor at North Carolina State University. Barrangou co-led the study, published in the journal Science, along with Jack Wang, an assistant professor at NC State.
Forest trees account for the largest biogenic carbon sink on earth, the study authors note, and are key to curbing climate change effects. In North Carolina alone, the forestry industry contributes $35 billion to the local economy and supports roughly 140,000 jobs.
It took 13 years for the team of half a dozen researchers to build the predictive model, which sorted through nearly 70,000 different gene-editing strategies. Large-scale machine learning models combined with CRISPR allowed the scientists to evaluate, test and process groups of poplar tree molecular structures for 21 different genes associated with tree fiber production.
After the model sorted through these large data sets, the team was able to select gene arrangements that would produce 35% less lignin than wild trees. Then, by planting and cultivating 174 lines of poplars, the experimental group at NC State’s greenhouse found that the trees showed up to a 50% reduction in the biopolymer compared to wild trees.
Continued greenhouse testing will be needed to see how gene-edited trees perform compared to wild trees over time. The team hopes to conduct more field trials to see how the gene-edited poplars take to life outdoors.
While the model was designed specifically for poplar molecular structures, Wang explained that the new insights can be applied more broadly.
“The core enzymes and biochemical reactions in the lignin biosynthesis pathway are sufficiently conserved that gene strategies from one tree species could be explored in another,” Wang said in an interview. “The genetic insights should be informative for other hardwood species.”
Seeking to apply their research to commercial paper production, Barrangou and Wang founded a startup company, TreeCo, advancing the use of CRISPR in the forestry marketplace.
“This approach enables the strategic re-programming of wood formation," Wang said, "to create novel opportunities for reducing pulp mills."
With recent developments in artificial intelligence applications and data processing, Wang hopes this technology will have far-reaching applications in the fight to combat climate change.
“AI is a useful tool for deciphering large data sets that may be too complex for intuitive understanding,” Wang said. “In some instances, advances in AI innovations have accelerated the identification of gene targets that could be edited using genetic tools, such as CRISPR, to enhance traits of interest in organisms across the Tree of Life.”
Daniel Sulis, a co-author and postdoctoral researcher at NC State, says the combined efforts of computational biology, CRISPR tools and bioeconomics offer powerful new approaches to solving industry needs and lowering environmental impacts.
"[The] approach has transformed our ability to unravel the complexity of tree genetics and deduce integrated solutions that could improve ecologically and economically important wood traits while reducing the carbon footprint,” Sulis said in a press release.
In addition to NC State, researchers hailed from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Beihua University and Northeast Forestry University for the decade-long project.
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