Exploring the Diversity of the American Prairie’s Switchgrass

A tall native plant of the North American prairie, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) has long been a tantalizing potential biofuel feedstock. But switchgrass has a complex genome and, as a species, encompasses dizzying diversity. So, a team of scientists made an ambitious plan to link the plant’s diverse traits — height, biomass, hardiness to cold, etc. — to its genes. The undertaking took shovels, trucks — and more than a decade.

With the results just published in the journal Nature, listen to the episode for a romp through their switchgrass story. Find more info on this episode, including the transcript, at https://jgi.doe.gov/genome-insider-s2ep1-exploring-diversity-of-american-prairie-switchgrass/.