Sang-Jin Kim
Title:
Research Assistant Professor (fixed term)
Education:
Ph.D., Iowa State University
B.S., Korea University, Republic of Korea
Research statement:
As a researcher in Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), and part of Dr. Federica Brandizzi's laboratory, I have been conducting basic research on developing plants with traits that increase the value of the crop as a biofuel feedstock by manipulating plant cell wall is one path to achieving that goal.
The plant cell wall consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and lignin. The components of the plant cell wall each play an important role during plant growth by modulating cell expansion and providing mechanical support and barriers. Certain types of polysaccharides, such as mixed-linkage glucan (MLG), are easier to convert to ethanol than others due to their simple composition and digestibility. Research has looked into how MLG is made and transported within the model grass species, Brachypodium. We are aiming to improve biofuel crops such as sorghum, with the goal of increasing the overall amount of MLG output, without incurring agronomic penalties.
Besides MLG, pectin is also one of the important cell wall components essential for plant growth and development. By generating plants overexpressing or lacking specific genes in pectin synthesis and modification, our group has demonstrated that manipulating pectin could impact plant growth and cell wall properties that can favorably affect plant quality and quantity as a biofuel feedstock.
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