BioMatNet Item: FAIR-CT96-1392 - European Miscanthus improvement: broadening the genetic base, testing genotypes and developing breeding methods

FAIR-CT96-1392
European Miscanthus improvement: broadening the genetic base, testing genotypes and developing breeding methods

Contacts
Further Information

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Crops for Solid Biofuels : FAIR Area 4.3 - Diversification : Fibre : Plant Genetics : Solid Biofuels : Thermochemical Conversion

	Type of Project	Shared Cost
	Contract No	FAIR-CT96-1392
	Total Cost	2,032,192 ECU
	EC Contribution	1,230,000 ECU
	Start Date	01/01/1997
	Duration	38 months

European Miscanthus improvement: broadening the genetic base, testing genotypes and developing breeding methods

Objectives

Miscanthus is a perennial high yielding grass from East Asia. It is an environmentally benign plant that has a lot of alternative uses. One of the most promising is the use of plant fibre for combustion. Several experiments with Miscanthus 'Giganteus', a sterile hybrid, showed a good potential of this plant in Europe but also showed a lot of problems like insufficient winter survival and a low adaptation to most ecological regions of Europe. All these experiments have been done with one single clone and there is no genetic variability available in Europe that could be used to overcome these problems. But there is a vast genetic variability in the East Asian region, the origin of Miscanthus. A lot of Miscanthus germplasm has been collected by some of the project partner in China and Japan.

Technical Approach

The main objective of this project is to provide germplasm to broaden the genetic base of Miscanthus in Europe and to provide breeding techniques for Miscanthus. This will enable most regions of Europe to be supplied with varieties that will perform in a satisfactory way within the various climatic and ecological regions. At the same time this will:

fulfil the quality standards set for specific industrial uses
reduce the risk of widespread occurrence of pests and diseases

These objectives will be attained by:

testing different genotypes in field tests in different climatic regions and analysing their fibre and combustion quality:

to determine the clonal adaptability to ecological conditions
to determine the influence of climate an yield and quality (combustion and fibre quality) of the biomass
to determine the influence of the genotype on yield, quality and winter survival
to determine the environment-genotype interactions
to be able to predict what genotype is suitable for any given ecological zone in Europe.

developing breeding methods for Miscanthus that will enable:

polyploidisation by in vivo and in vitro chromosome doubling
intra- and inter- specific hybridisation by studies of incompatibility barriers
flower synchronisation of species (M. sacchariflorus and M. sinensis)

in situ seed setting
seed germination studies

Contacts

Coordinator

Universitaet Hohenheim Institut fuer Pflanzenbau und Gruenland (340) / GERMANY

EC Scientific Officer

Adelmo MOREALE / European Commission DG VI Agriculture BELGIUM

Participant