The Technology

The plant cell wall provides the cellulose that is the source of all industrial fiber needed for paper, board, wood, cotton and a multitude of other forestry or agricultural products, including the sugars used in second generation bioethanol production, as well as the chemicals for many plastics. At the heart of our technology lies our capability of producing plants that have altered cell walls, resulting in enhanced growth and biomass, increased cellulose, improved fiber properties, improved digestibility by livestock, improved industrial processability and increased yield properties. We have secured broad intellectual property covering plants with modified cell walls showing such altered properties, protecting our developments and creating barriers to potential competitors. We have progressed beyond gene discovery and we are able to effect these changes in plant cell walls using our patented cellulose binding domain genes, cel1 genes and novel cell wall polysaccharide modifying genes .

The cbd Gene

By introducing the cbd gene into plants we are able to express CBD (cellulose binding domain) proteins within the cell wall of plant tissue. CBD proteins bind to newly synthesized cellulose fibers in plant cell walls.

This physico-mechanical interference uncouples cellulose synthesis by the subunits of the cellulose synthase enzyme complexes. This results in an increased rate of synthesis of the cellulose polymer, improved polymer qualities and enhanced biomass. The increased rate of cellulose synthesis in the cell wall leads to enhanced cellulose production, greater biomass at the plant level, improved fiber properties and may enhance resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. We have inserted the cbd genes into hardwood forestry species and we have demonstrated substantial volume increases with improvements in wood density and fiber properties. These improvements carried through to finished paper, which showed enhanced tensile, tear and burst indices.

The cel1 Gene

cel1 is the endo-1,4-β-glucanase gene from Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering plant that is widely used as a model organism in plant biology. We utilize cel1, the CEL1 protein and the cel1 promoter to modify a number of plant properties.

Cellulose chains in the cell walls of plant tissue are cross-linked to one another by the molecule xyloglucan. The CEL1 protein breaks cellulose-xyloglucan links. During the processes of cell elongation and division, native CEL1-like proteins in the plant break cellulose-xyloglucan links, allowing cellulose chains to move freely relative to one another. By transforming our cel1 gene into plants, we cause the cells to elongate more freely and rapidly, resulting in entire plants that reach development stages faster and grow more rapidly.
In plants, the cel1 promoter switches genes on in the elongation zones only. It can be used to control cel1 and cbd genes or other effector genes and enable their expression in elongating cells. Once plant stem cells have begun differentiating into separate tissue structures, it is crucial that genes are appropriately switched on and off. Our ability to selectively express novel genes in the appropriate tissues at the appropriate times is fundamental to our success in modulating plant growth properties.

Eucalyptus Transformation

To successfully deploy our technology, we have developed proprietary methods for the transformation of clonal eucalyptus. Using these methods, we have succeeded in transforming a number of commercial species, including eucalyptus hybrids. We have established regional collaborations with leading forestry companies to develop high-performing eucalyptus germplasm for the plantation forest industry.

We have succeeded in inserting our cbd and cel 1 genes into commercial eucalyptus species for the pulp and paper industry. CBD Technologies takes you beyond gene discovery and into commercialization.

Biofuel Production

Our  biofuel program is integrated with the FurturaGene program and is focused on improving the feedstock to be environmentally robust and provide yields that make bioenergy a feasible alternative. FuturaEnergy™ technology can be used to create biofuel feedstock with increased biomass, shorter crop cycles and improved cellulose synthesis for use in biofuel. CBD is working actively with novel cell wall polysaccharide modifying enzymes which change the composition of the plant cell wall. These polysaccharides dissolve in preprocessing of cellulosic biomass, allowing enhanced penetration of  chemicals and enzymes to the cellulose and hemicellulose fractions, thus increasing the efficiency of deconstruction for bioethanol production.