title: The duckweeds: a valuable plant for biomanufacturing.
abstract: Inherent characteristics of duckweed, including fast, clonal growth, small size and simple growth habit, argue for their use as a biomanufacturing platform for proteins, polymers and small molecules. This review addresses five areas relevant to commercialization of the duckweed platform: (1) the characteristics of wild-type duckweed and general cultural requirements; (2) the genetics and biochemistry of the plants and recent scientific developments that provide the technology necessary to genetically modify duckweed; (3) the advantages provided by inherent duckweed characteristics and genetic engineering technology relative to bioproduction; (4) recent progress towards commercialization of duckweed-based products and (5) the major research needs for further R&D.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forestry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8002, USA. astomp@unity.ncsu.edu
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Stomp
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods; D029064:Araceae / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins