Species: Miscanthus x giganteus Family: Poaceae, order Poales Description: potential biofuel source, monocot Resources: Genome sequencing of M. sinensis in progress (NCBI Project IDs: 32649, 32661. Nandan Biomatrix Ltd.)

Information:

References: Ezaki, B. et al. 2008 ; Chou, C.H. 2008 ; Clifton-Brwon, J.C. et al. 2007 ;
           Yuan, J.L. et al. 2008 ; Villaverde, J.J. et al. 2009

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	The genus Miscanthus comprises numerous species. Several features make it a potential biomass/biofuel crop
	Miscanthus x giganteus is a sterile triplod hybrid
	It is a cross of the M. sinensis and M. sacchariflorus. Both of these originally Asian species have spread to North America in the meanwhile
	Miscanthus boasts higher energy balance and net energy ratio in comparison to several biofuel production candidates
	Calculations indicate farming Miscanthus for this purpose would require less land than switchgrass or corn would
	For Miscanthus x giganteus, rhizome is the natural way of propagation. Miscanthus rhizomes grow and develop fast enough to put species of this genus on the list of potentially invasive/prohibited plants in some states
	Another feature that makes miscanthus an attractive crop is its tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses
	Miscanthus is considered an environmentally friendly crop due to its capacity to bind carbon dioxide and low fertilizer requirements
	Phytochemical studies demonstrated Miscanthus accumulates appreciable amounts of various phenolics and sterols

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Last updated: 07 August 2009