Systems Biology Research to Advance Sustainable Bioenergy Crop Development

The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for research that supports the Genomic Science research program (http://genomicscience.energy.gov). In this FOA, applications are requested for: i) Systems-level research to better understand the molecular and physiological mechanisms that control bioenergy crop vigor, resource use efficiency, and resilience/adaptability to abiotic stress, as well as interactions with the surrounding environment, in order to increase biomass productivity under changing and at times suboptimal conditions; ii) Systems biology-enabled investigations into the role(s) of microbial and microbial communities in the complex and multi-scaled interactions of the plant-soil-environment: contribution(s) to bioenergy feedstock plant performance, adaptation, and resilience in the face of a broad range of changing environmental conditions and abiotic stressors (e.g., climate), and the impacts of introducing bioenergy cropping systems on the local ecosystem.