Developmental Control of Lignification in Stems of Lowland Switchgrass Variety Alamo and the Effects on Saccharification
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Developmental Control of Lignification in Stems of Lowland Switchgrass Variety Alamo and the Effects on Saccharification Efficiency Hui Shen & Chunxiang Fu & Xirong Xiao & Tui Ray & Yuhong Tang & Zengyu Wang & Fang Chen
Published online: 20 October 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC. 2009
Abstract The switchgrass variety Alamo has been chosen for genome sequencing, genetic breeding, and genetic engineering by the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the US Department of Energy BioEnergy Science Center. Lignin has been considered as a major obstacle for cellulosic biofuel production from switchgrass biomass. The purpose of this study was to provide baseline information on cell wall development in different parts of developing internodes of tillers of switchgrass cultivar Alamo and evaluate the effect of cell wall properties on biomass saccharification. Cell wall structure, soluble and wall-bound phenolics, and lignin content were analyzed from the top, middle, and bottom parts of internodes at different developmental stages using ultraviolet autofluorescence microscopy, histological staining methods, and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The
examination of different parts of the developing internodes revealed differences in the stem structure during development, in the levels of free and well-bound phenolic compounds and lignin content, and in lignin pathwayrelated gene expression, indicating that the monolignol biosynthetic pathway in switchgrass is under complex spatial and temporal control. Our data clearly show that there was a strong negative correlation between overall lignin content and biomass saccharification efficiency. The ester-linked p-CA/FA ratio showed a positive correlation with lignin content and a negative correlation with sugar release. Our data provide baseline information to facilitate genetic modification of switchgrass recalcitrance traits for biofuel production. Keywords Alamo switchgrass . Lignin . Cell wall . Biofuel . Cellulosic ethanol . Saccharification
H. Shen and C. Fu are contributed equally to this work. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12155-009-9058-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. H. Shen : T. Ray : Y. Tang : F. Chen (*) Plant Biology Division, Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401, USA e-mail: [email protected] C. Fu : X. Xiao : Z. Wang Forage Improvement Division, Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401, USA H. Shen : X. Xiao : Y. Tang : Z. Wang : F. Chen DOE BioEnergy Science Center, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Introduction Switchgrass is a C4 perennial forage grass native to most areas of the North American grasslands. Switchgrass has high biomass yield because it can reach 1.8–2.2 m in height and has been selected for development as a dedicated biomass/biofuel crop in the USA [1–3]. Different ecotypes of switchgrass have different genetic and physiological characteristics that h
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