Postdoctoral Scholar NC State University raleigh, North Carolina
Body of Abstract: Wood is the most abundant carbon biomass on earth and the major source of sustainable green fibers and bioproducts. Globally, 550 gigatons of carbon are stored as wood, representing 57% of the biogenic carbon sink. Despite the importance of wood fibers, its production has remained largely limited to undomesticated forest trees with often sub-optimal wood properties that hamper production efficiency. Here, we show that multiplex-CRISPR-editing enables precise woody-feedstock design for combinatorial improvement in lignin composition and wood properties. By assessing every possible combination of 69,123 multigenic-editing strategies for 21 genes in the lignin pathway using machine-learning-based predictive models, we deduced 7 unique genome-editing strategies targeting the concurrent alteration of up to 6 genes, and produced 174 edited poplar variants. CRISPR-editing increased the wood carbohydrate-to-lignin ratio up to 228% of wildtype, leading to more efficient pulping for fibers. The edited-wood alleviates a major fiber-production bottleneck, and could bring unprecedented operational efficiencies, bioeconomic opportunities, and environmental benefits.