New step in bioenergy development

US and UK researchers have just completed the genetic mapping of tea plants, a crop that promises to bring the necessary bioenergy to human needs.

This is an important step of the scientific community in finding alternative bioenergy sources in the context of the world facing the risk of exhausting fossil energy sources.

Tea grass

The above study by a group of scientists from Ceres Energy Company based in California, USA and Institute of Biology, Environment and Rural Sciences of Aberystwyth University from Wales, is published on PLoS One magazine's website on March 19.

Researchers have mapped out all 19 chromosome pairs of tea grass, a tall grass such as sugarcane and can be used as a raw material for biofuel production, bio-products learning and bioenergy.

The work has been carried out for many years based on the evaluation and analysis of more than 400 million DNA sequences of this grass and the result is a detailed genetic map.

In the myriad of data available, the researchers found 20,000 different genes of tea grass, allowing differentiation of individuals based on small changes in DNA.

Among the genes mentioned above, geneticists have used more than 3,500 genes to create a genetic map of this plant.