Genetic Enhancement of Sorghum for Biomass Utilization
Biomass produced from sorghum can be utilized as forage and silage to feed ruminant animals and as feedstock for biofuels and bio-based products. The efficiency of biomass utilization is a function of biomass composition and plant architecture. This chapt
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Genetic Enhancement of Sorghum for Biomass Utilization Wilfred Vermerris and Ana Saballos
Abstract Biomass produced from sorghum can be utilized as forage and silage to feed ruminant animals and as feedstock for biofuels and bio-based products. The efficiency of biomass utilization is a function of biomass composition and plant architecture. This chapter provides a description of the cell wall polymers that make up the bulk of sorghum biomass, along with information on the genes involved in their biosynthesis. The close evolutionary relationships among the grasses makes it possible to infer gene function across species. Newly developed genomics and bioinformatics resources offer exciting opportunities for the genetic enhancement of sorghum as a biomass crop. Keywords Biomass • Bioenergy • Biofuels • Cell wall • Forage • Near infrared spectroscopy • Pyrolysis • Silage
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Introduction: Utilization of Sorghum Biomass
The focus of this chapter is on the use of the vegetative parts of the sorghum plant (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and on ways to improve the utilization of these parts of the plant through genetics, genomics, and plant breeding. The vegetative aerial W. Vermerris (*) Genetics Institute and Agronomy Department, University of Florida, 2033 Mowry Road, Gainesville, FL 32610-3610, USA Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering and Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA e-mail: [email protected] A. Saballos Genetics Institute and Agronomy Department, University of Florida, 2033 Mowry Road, Gainesville, FL 32610-3610, USA e-mail: [email protected] A.H. Paterson (ed.), Genomics of the Saccharinae, Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models 11, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-5947-8_17, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
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parts of the plant are often referred to as biomass, which is essentially comprised of the stem, tillers, and leaves. Biomass can be harvested for different purposes, namely as nutrition for ruminant animals in the form of forage and silage or as a feedstock for bioenergy, biofuels, or bio-based products. Sorghum biomass can be fed to (ruminant) animals, either as green chop (harvested and cut pre-booting), hay (dried plants) or by letting the animals graze the plants in the field. Sudangrass and sorghum × sudangrass hybrids are attractive for grazing because sudangrass has thinner stems, narrower leaves, and more tillers than “regular” sorghum; the hybrid is intermediate in its appearance. Sudangrass is considered a separate subspecies, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench ssp. drummondii ((Nees ex Steud.) de Wet & Harlan) (cf. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; http://plants.usda.gov), but has also been considered a member of the Working Group Sudanense of Sorghum bicolor ssp. bicolor (Dahlberg 2000). Silage is produced by chopping the entire above-ground part of the plant (including the grain), typically harvested at soft-dough stage. The chopped parts are preserved by microbial conversio
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