UGA Complex Carbohydrate Research Center awarded DOE grant
March 5, 2009
BY Erin Krueger
Web exclusive posted April 2, 2009, at 12:21 p.m. CST
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the University of Georgia Complex Carbohydrate Research Center a four-year $3.1 million grant. The funding will allow the facility, which houses the DOE Center for Plant and Microbial Complex Carbohydrates, to continue to serve as a national resource for researchers who study the complex carbohydrates of plants and of microbes that interact with plants.
Scientists from U.S. and international biotechnology companies, universities and government agencies send carbohydrate samples derived from animal, plant and microbial sources to the DOE center for characterization and structural analysis using the latest technologies. These entities also collaborate with CCRC scientists and attend specialized training courses at the center.
According to Parastoo Azadi, CCRC's technical director, the center contributes to carbohydrate research in a wide range of areas, including bioufels. "There is biofuel research being carried out on switchgrass to know how we can use [the feedstock] for biofuel," she says. This research centers on determining the structure of the carbohydrate that is left behind after the cellulosic feedstock is pretreated. "If we can get more structural data on what is left behind, then maybe we can look into other treatments or other enzymes that we can use to further degrade that product," Azadi said.
According to Azadi, the DOE grant will support collaborative projects in which CCRC scientists work with third parties. The funding also supports the scientists, the technicians and the instruments that are needed to keep the facility up and running. "The DOE center grant funds us being a resource to the outside community," said Azadi. "That's what we are. We've become a resource for other people to use our expertise."
The CCRC was founded at UGA in 1985 to answer the national need for a center devoted to increasing knowledge of the structures and functions of complex carbohydrates. The DOE-funded center was the first of the five federally designated centers dedicated to carbohydrate research that are now located at CCRC.
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the University of Georgia Complex Carbohydrate Research Center a four-year $3.1 million grant. The funding will allow the facility, which houses the DOE Center for Plant and Microbial Complex Carbohydrates, to continue to serve as a national resource for researchers who study the complex carbohydrates of plants and of microbes that interact with plants.
Scientists from U.S. and international biotechnology companies, universities and government agencies send carbohydrate samples derived from animal, plant and microbial sources to the DOE center for characterization and structural analysis using the latest technologies. These entities also collaborate with CCRC scientists and attend specialized training courses at the center.
According to Parastoo Azadi, CCRC's technical director, the center contributes to carbohydrate research in a wide range of areas, including bioufels. "There is biofuel research being carried out on switchgrass to know how we can use [the feedstock] for biofuel," she says. This research centers on determining the structure of the carbohydrate that is left behind after the cellulosic feedstock is pretreated. "If we can get more structural data on what is left behind, then maybe we can look into other treatments or other enzymes that we can use to further degrade that product," Azadi said.
According to Azadi, the DOE grant will support collaborative projects in which CCRC scientists work with third parties. The funding also supports the scientists, the technicians and the instruments that are needed to keep the facility up and running. "The DOE center grant funds us being a resource to the outside community," said Azadi. "That's what we are. We've become a resource for other people to use our expertise."
The CCRC was founded at UGA in 1985 to answer the national need for a center devoted to increasing knowledge of the structures and functions of complex carbohydrates. The DOE-funded center was the first of the five federally designated centers dedicated to carbohydrate research that are now located at CCRC.
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