'Plants for the Future' technology platform presents plan for European bioeconomy

The EU-backed ‘Plants for the Future’ Technology Platform officially released its full and final Strategic Research Agenda [*.pdf] in the European Parliament in Brussels last week. The document backed by scientists, farmers, industry and other public and private stakeholders signposts a route for Europe to use plant sciences and biotechnology to enhance EU competitiveness and welfare. The document outlines a radical transition towards the knowledge-based bioeconomy.

Plants for the Future is a stakeholder forum on plant genomics and biotechnology that was initiated by the European Commission in 2003. It is coordinated by the European Plant Science Organisation (ESPO), is an independent body that represents more than 50 leading Research Institutions from 23 European countries, and by the European Association of Bioindustries (EuropaBio). The organisation has members from industry, academia and the agricultural sector. It provides a short-, medium- and long-term vision for Europe’s plant agricultural sector and sets out a consensus on the research needed to fulfill the vision for the creation of a bioeconomy.

Our forefathers used the potential of plants far more than we are using it today. Today we are using plants nearly only for food, feed and construction. In the future we aim to use plants for energy and as a source of chemicals. The development of the knowledge-based bioeconomy – involving a global industry based on renewable plant resources as an alternative to the current fossil fuel-based industry – constitutes by far the most challenging and promising opportunity in terms of economic, environmental and societal potential. - Dr Markwart Kunz, Plants for the Future.

The strategic research agenda identifies five challenges for Europe’s society to which the plant sector can contribute:

1. Healthy, safe and sufficient food and feed
2. Plant-based products – green chemicals and bioenergy
3. Sustainable agriculture, forestry and landscape
4. Vibrant and competitive basic research
5. Consumer choice and governance

The strategic plan includes targets under different time-frames. When it comes to green chemistry and bioenergy, goals for the biotech research community are the development of advanced plant-based raw materials and pharmaceuticals, of plants as energy production systems and as genuine 'production factories' based on the optimisation of non-food plants as a vehicle to produce compounds of interest. The targets and deliverables are highly optimistic but because they are based on expert consultations they offer an overview of what is deemed scientifically and technologically feasible over the coming years.

Bioenergy systems
Sustainable use of plants to produce energy requires a substantial net energy gain. Simulations that take into account all inputs in the plant-based energy generation process tend to show that the net gain currently ranges between negative and a factor two compared with input energy. This is insufficient to play a role of importance in resolving future energy demand. The challenge is to rethink the concept and dramatically lower energy input requirements for growing and harvesting plant biomass, while maximising energy retention. The ultimate application of this know-how would be the development of an economically competitive, net energy producing system for the energy industry. Deliverables and research activities include:

Over the next five years:

• Development of out-of-the-box options, including some primary feasibility testing of high-energy plant biomass production systems (crops, plant cultures, other) with at least 50% lower energy input requirements than current best production systems (i.e. plants and methods of cultivation and harvesting)
• Development of out-of-the-box options, including some primary feasibility testing, to increase the energy retention of plants by at least fivefold in comparison with today’s best performers
• Gene replacement technology to optimise selected, high-energy plant biomass production systems

Over the next ten years:
biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biorefinery :: biotechnology :: green chemistry :: bioeconomy :: European Union ::

• Prototype development of three prioritised high-energy plant biomass production systems with at least 50% lower energy input requirements than current best production systems (i.e. plants and methods of cultivation and harvesting)
• Prototype development of three prioritised high-energy plant biomass production systems with a forecasted fivefold higher energy retention than today’s best performers

Over the next twenty-five years:

• Prototype development of two prioritised high-energy plant biomass production systems with at least 50% lower energy input requirements and at least fivefold greater energy retention than current best production systems (i.e. plants and methods of cultivation and harvesting).

Green chemistry
Both society and industry would benefit from exploring the uses of new plant raw materials with better-performing features or an accumulation of new compounds. These benefits may range from cheaper, safer or more environmentally friendly production methods to the ability to develop better products for the consumer. New plant raw materials may include oils, starches, fibres and secondary metabolites, with application in the health, nutrition and materials industries.

Similarly, plants may become a major source for the production of pharmaceuticals. The development of new plant raw materials and compounds requires the development know-how on key pathways and participating genes, nutrient uptake and transport, energy metabolism, growth conditions, as well as the appropriate enabling technologies.

Deliverables and research activities include:

Over the next five years

• Fourty prioritised pathways understood at level of participating genes and products
• Efficient molecular gene evolution technology development applicable to genes participating in the aforementioned pathways
• Optimise plant recombinant protein expression technology
• New transgenic production strategies
• New enabling technologies, such as gene replacement and chemical switch technology

Over the next ten years

• Systems biology know-how for 100+ pathways in three prioritised plant species
• Manipulation of 20 prioritised pathways using on/off switches at all control points and the introduction of foreign genes with new functions
• Sophisticated manipulation of first set of pathways by introducing evolved genes through experimental gene replacement
• Commercialisation of recombinant pharmaceuticals from plants
• Improvement of new enabling technologies, such as efficient gene replacement, chemical switch to bring them up to commercial standards

Over the next twenty-five years

• Predictive systems biology knowledge of 50 pathways in three plant species
• Revalidation of existing systems biology know-how in five additional plant species
• Manipulation of 100 prioritised pathways using evolved genes at multiple control points and the optimisation of foreign genes with new functions

Plants as production factories
Plants may offer an attractive alternative production system for proteins and other compounds. Their use as a production system depends on their cost, quality, environmental friendliness and the time it takes to produce the compound of interest, as well as on the uniqueness of the plants needed to produce a particular compound.

The central theme is the optimisation of non-food plants as a vehicle to produce the compounds of interest. A number of factors are likely to determine whether or not industry embraces this new approach: (1) the concentration of the compound, (2) the ability to direct post-translational modifications, (3) the storability of the compound in the plant or (intermediate) extract, (4) the extractability of the compound, (5) the infrastructure requirements (field, greenhouse, growth rooms and ‘fermentors’) and the acreage necessary to grow the plants, (6) the handling requirements during growth and (7) the time needed to grow the plants. In addition, to minimise plant waste and maximise economic benefit, the plant residue remaining after extraction should have a second purpose.

Deliverables and research activities include:

Over the next five years

• Improved plant gene expression technology for selected non-food plants: mRNA production, translational performance of mRNAs, protein folding, post-translational modification technology
• Compound accumulation and storage technology
• Compound transport and secretion technology
• New technologies (e.g. gene replacement, transfection technologies and chemical switch) applicable to a range of selected species with the potential to meet commercial performance standards
• New manufacturing strategies for production, extraction and processing
• Development of small-scale manufacturing infrastructure and capacity for nonfood products

Over the next ten years

• Mainly non-food plants and plant cells optimised for compound production and extraction
• Broadened platform of post-translational modification technologies
• Broad use gene replacement, chemical witch and transfection technologies
• Controlled boosting of plant cell division rates
• Development of large-scale production capacity for non-food products

Over the next twenty-five years

• Compound production and extraction technologies for commercial use and applicable to multiple plants and plant cells
• Development of plants or plant cells suitable for fermentor-like applications

Speaking at the presentation of the Strategic Research Agenda, the president of EPSO Mr Gruissem said: “Europe must put its knowledge base in the field of plant science into practice to keep the European agricultural sector innovative and internationally competitive.” Plant genomics, the other life sciences and biotechnology are the main scientific drivers of the bioeconomy which is worth an estimated €1.6 trillion a year in Europe. Together, they make up what is becoming known as the knowledge-based bioeconomy:

“To improve their future competitiveness, European farmers will need more diversified and environmentally friendly crops, producing more and better quality food and non-food products. This real challenge will be tackled through state of the art innovation, especially in plant biotechnologies,” said Mr Serra Arias, former vice-president of the Committee of Agricultural Organisations (COPA).

Plants for the Future hopes that the research themes described in its Research Agenda will feature in the EU Commission conference which opened June 26th in Brussels entitled “Towards future challenges of agricultural research in Europe” and in any European Agricultural Research Agenda that may be developed thereafter.

The organisation consulted on the Stakeholders Proposal for a SRA at consultations in 20 European Countries, with the Mirror Group of the European Parliament, and received numerous individual replies via its online invitation for comments.

References:
European Plant Science Organisation: ‘Plants for the Future’ invites Europe to reap fruits of knowledge-based bio-economy [*.doc]- June 25, 2007.

Plants for the Future: Stakeholders Proposal for a Strategic Research Agenca [*.pdf] - June 2007.

ESPO consultations on the Strategic Research Agenda; country-specific consultations can be found here.

EurActiv recently conducted an interview with Dr Markwart Kunz in which he explains the challenges of the bioeconomy: AgroSciences see future in energy and chemicals - July 2, 2007.