July 22, 2009

Nippon Paper Industries to Conduct Joint Research on Creation of Trees
with High Biomass Energy Productivity

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd.

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (President: Yoshio Haga) has been undertaking extensive research and development in genetically engineered salt-tolerant eucalyptus(*), as part of a joint effort with Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and University of Tsukuba. Specifically, the Company has joined a project for large-scale carbon dioxide fixation run by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and operated by the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE). It is also taking part in the ongoing "Development of Fundamental Technologies for Controlling the Material Production Process of Plants", a project being operated by the Research Association for Biotechnology on behalf of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). In one outcome from this R&D, Nippon Paper Industries has successfully applied its proprietary gene transfer technology to improve the salt tolerance of eucalyptus.
 
To make use of the results of research into genetically engineered salt-tolerant eucalyptus, Nippon Paper Industries applied to run NEDO's New Energy Technology Development Project, Development of Preparatory Basic Bioenergy Technologies with Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and University of Tsukuba. On July 7, the Company was informed that it had been selected to undertake the project.
 
Over the next two to four years, Nippon Paper Industries will undertake R&D directed at creating trees that maintain high productivity even on salt-damaged or dry land, etc. The company will focus on fast-growing trees (such as poplar and eucalyptus), as promising resources for biomass fuel.
 
Summary of the Research
Subject: "Research and Development on Creation of Trees with High Biomass Energy Productivity through Genetic Engineering"
 
Period: 2009 – 2010 (two years)
 
Commissioned Researchers:
Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd.
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (Professor Yoshihiro Ozeki, Division of Biotechnology and Life Science, Institute of Symbiotic Science and Technology)
University of Tsukuba (Professor Kazuo Watanabe, Gene Research Center, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences)
 
*Genetically engineered salt-tolerant eucalyptus
Refers to eucalyptus into which salt-tolerant genes, obtained from soil bacteria or salt-tolerant plants such as mangrove, have been inserted using a gene transfer technology developed independently by Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. It has been confirmed that this genetically engineered eucalyptus does not wither even when it is given water that is equivalent to seawater in salt concentration.