| dc.description.abstract | The old Western idiom “like watching grass grow” implies disinterest, apathy, and boredom. The historical etymology of this phrase is uninspired as grasses are one of the most important family of plants across the globe. They are used for everything from recreation to infrastructure and food; grasses have been manipulated and designed for centuries to fit our needs. One innovative area is the design of dedicated bioenergy grasses to supplement the growing demand for clean energy. Sorghum bicolor is a C4 grass that grows to 4-5 meters tall with high biomass accumulation in its thick, sugar-packed stems. This biomass can be easily converted to bioenergy through mechanical, enzymatic, and chemical processing. Because of the importance of the stem in biomass accumulation, understanding stem biology is critical to the future design of Sorghum as a dedicated bioenergy grass. Here, we characterize a dwarfing gene responsible for stem growth, Dw2, and further define specific tissues within the stem. Both findings contribute to the understanding of growth and development of grass stems and internodes. As shown later, the AGCVIII kinase Dw2 controls internodal growth through the regulation of lipid signaling, endomembrane trafficking, and reactive oxygen species. Additionally, the research shows that the stem of grasses consists of four major tissues: the Pulvinus, the Nodal Plexus, the Internode, and the White Band. Each of these tissues have specialized roles in the proper development of grass stems and their coordination is required for efficient biomass accumulation. Overall, this research facilitates the underlying knowledge required to design Sorghum as an ideal bioenergy grass, draws connections to other important crops, and highlights the necessary, albeit sometimes tedious, requirement of watching grass grow. | en |
