SBIR Phase I: SNP Discovery to Identify Candidate Genes for Association Genetics in ? Pongamia pinnata?, a High-Potential Biodiesel Feedstock

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will test the feasibility of a ?whole transcriptome? shotgun DNA sequencing approach to identify candidate alleles that can be associated with agronomically important traits in Pongamia pinnata, a leguminous tree that produces large quantities of seed oil suitable for biodiesel refining. This approach looks simultaneously for specific DNA changes (SNPs) among large numbers of expressed gene variants, alleles, that may correlate with physical traits. Specific DNA markers of these alleles will permit the tracking of multiple valuable traits within breeding populations and accelerate the development of commercial stocks of Pongamia, This remarkable but undomesticated, biofuel feedstock tree grows on marginal land unsuited for food production, fixes nitrogen in association with rhizobium, and requires low levels of water. The broader/commercial impacts of this research are that commercialization of Pongamia will proceed more readily if based solidly upon research and breeding to produce a phenotypically stable and predictable crop. The major issue for the biodiesel refining industry remains the lack of a scalable, reliable, cost effective feedstock of raw oil, not the lack of refining capacity. Pongamia provides owners of marginal land with just such a crop that can yield oil for the biofuel industry at a profit to land owners and refiners, thus offering a real market solution to renewable transportation fuel.