The scientific and technological objectives of CASPIC are:

• Use an integrated systems biology approach to understand and exploit plant cell wall texture for the future production of (ligno)cellulosic (nano)materials with unique multifunctional properties.  
• Provide a knowledge platform for future innovation in cell wall-based industrial products, a step toward a knowledge based society.
• Contribute to a paradigm shift from a reductionist to a systems biology approach for generating innovation in fundamental and applied sciences.
• Communicate the scientific and technological knowledge/breakthroughs generated in the project to scientific and industrial end-users and the general public.

Specific Objectives

Specific Objectives

Objective 1

• Development of poplar and Arabidopsis plants with an altered number of active cellulose synthases and an altered cellulose to matrix ratio
• Development of novel tools for manipulating and monitoring the cellular and mechanical properties of plant cell walls.
• Analysis of the effect of altering cellulose synthase number and cellulose to matrix ratio on cell wall chemistry
• Analysis of the effect of altering cellulose synthase number and cellulose to matrix ratio on cell wall texture
• Analysis of the effect of altering cellulose synthase number and cellulose to matrix ratio on cell wall mechanical properties

Milestones

• Arabidopsis and poplar plants with modified cellulose synthase complex numbers and cellulose/cell wall matrix ratio
• Database of chemical-, cellular- and mechanical properties of Arabidopsis and poplar plants with modified cellulose synthase complex numbers and cellulose/cell wall matrix ratio

Objective 2

• Modify specific genes and hence specific parameters of the geo-model
• Determine the effect introduced genes have on wall structure, composition, and mechanics 
• Platform from which to modify plant cell wall structure in a targeted fashion for industrial applications

Milestones

• Theory on the impact of genes in the pectin production pathway on cell wall structure
• Theory on the impact of cell wall texture on mechanical properties
• Platform from which to modify poplar cell wall structure in a targeted fashion for pulp, paper and timber industry

Objective 3

• Iterative experimentation and theory
• Predict material properties from systems parameters
• Provide a theory-driven perspective for plant design

Milestones

• Systems biology of Arabidopsis cell wall
• Systems biology of Poplar cell wall

Objective 4

• Communicate the concepts and results of the CASPIC project to the scientific community
• Communicate the technological breakthroughs and applications of the CASPIC project to the industrial end-users
• Communicate the CASPIC project and its underlying philosophy to students and the non-scientific community

Milestones

• Organisation of industrial end-users workshops
• Organisation of a European workshop on ‘Systems Biology for Plant Design'
• Establishment of the CASPIC website