The deal also provides Chromatin with commercially viable germplasm from Milo Genetics, which is underpinned by decades of delivering products to the market. The integration of SPI and Milo Genetics will accelerate Chromatin’s efforts to commercialize a portfolio of proprietary sorghum lines as bioenergy feedstocks, the company said.

In a presentation scheduled for today at the Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference in Washington, DC, Chromatin CEO Daphne Preuss will describe how feedstock genetics can impact biofuel yields, how optimal feedstocks like sorghum can be created with Chromatin’s technologies, and how the company has accessed market-ready feedstocks.

Sorghum is a globally cultivated crop with proven market acceptance and expanding commercial potential. The plant offers versatility for bioenergy applications because it is the only energy crop that can provide starch, sugar and lignocellulose. This makes it uniquely positioned as an adaptable, viable biomass source for both traditional and advanced liquid biofuels technologies as well as emerging markets such as biopower production, Chromatin says.

In addition, sorghum holds additional advantages as a preferred biomass source for sustainable bioenergy production the company points out:

• It is capable of growing across a wide geographic area within the US, offering a broad opportunity as a multi-regional, locally-available dedicated energy crop;
• Sorghum thrives on marginal lands, is water and nutrient efficient and provides a low overall environmental footprint; and
• Sorghum does not directly compete as a domestic food resource.

Sorghum is ideally suited as the energy crop for the future. Sorghum is adapted to 80% of the world's agricultural land, is very drought tolerant, is extremely efficient on less than optimum soils, and has a very favorable carbon footprint compared to other major grain crops. By joining forces with Chromatin, we will speed the development and distribution of advanced sorghum bioenergy feedstocks worldwide, while continuing to support our existing customers. This is truly a step forward for sorghum.

—Larry McDowell, SPI’s President, and Chromatin's Director of Seed Operations

Chromatin will be further building and commercializing its sorghum product portfolio over the near term. Using a phased approach as a platform for improving sorghum over time, the company will use technologies such as compositional screening and analysis, marker assisted breeding and gene stacking to deploy proprietary feedstocks near term and ultimately to optimize sorghum for specific bioprocessors’ needs.