Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), and Kyoto University have engineered poplar trees to produce valuable chemicals that can be used to make biodegradable plastics and other products. The modified trees were more tolerant of high salt levels in soil and were easier to break down for conversion into biofuels and other bioproducts.

The study, published in Plant Biotechnology Journal, shows that poplar trees, which are already useful as a bioenergy crop, can be reprogrammed at the genetic level to act as living factories for producing high-value materials. This approach for making important raw materials could help establish a flexible domestic supply chain, potentially lowering costs and reducing reliance on imported specialty chemicals.

“This study demonstrates the metabolic ‘plasticity,’ or flexibility, of poplar and the feasibility of engineering stress-resistant crops to produce multiple desired products,” said Chang-Jun Liu, Brookhaven Lab biologist and Scientific Lead of Bioenergy Crop Engineering at JBEI. “It’s an example of how basic biological discoveries that help us understand metabolic processes in plants can lead to real-world practical applications.”

The team modified hybrid poplar trees to produce 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid (PDC) — a compound used to make durable, high-performance plastics and coatings. This compound is normally generated through complex chemical processes or by using bacteria and other microbes to break down biomass.

Senior research associate Yang Tian and staff scientist Aymerick Eudes, researchers in the Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology (EGSB) Division and JBEI’s Bioenergy Crop Engineering group, conducted several analyses associated with the work and provided the genetic materials that led to the production of high-value PDC. 

Read more in the Brookhaven National Laboratory press release.