Producing rubber from lettuce

When lettuce grows and bolts, a milky white sap bleeds from the stem. In prickly lettuce, the wild relative of cultivated lettuce, this sap holds the potential to provide a sustainable source of natural rubber. Recent studies have found that the latex in prickly lettuce was very similar to the polymers found in natural rubber. In order to develop a viable new crop for rubber production, researchers at Washington State University had to start by understanding the genetics of rubber production in the plant. Studies began by collecting two distinct samples of prickly lettuce that differed in rubber content, leaf shape, and tendency to bolt. The scientists identified genetic markers not only for rubber content but for how the plants grow, including the number of stems and bolting. It was found that the desired traits for rubber production would be early bolting plants with multiple stems that would allow for multiple harvests in a season and maximize rubber yields. Selecting for another trait such as water use efficiency could allow prickly lettuce to be grown with minimal rainfall and in rotation with other crops.

Natural rubber is the main ingredient for many everyday products, however more than half of rubber products are made from synthetic rubber derived from petrochemical sources. With the largest natural source of rubber, the Brazilian rubber tree, threatened by disease it is important to find another source that could help alleviate the threat to worldwide production. Prickly lettuce has the potential as a new cash crop to naturally produce rubber.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150406133615.htm

https://www.ucalgary.ca/utoday/issue/2015-01-28/scientists-learn-make-rubber-lettuce