Variation in sugarcane biomass composition and enzymatic saccharification of leaves, internodes and roots
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Biotechnology for Biofuels Open Access
RESEARCH
Variation in sugarcane biomass composition and enzymatic saccharification of leaves, internodes and roots Patrick J. Mason1, Agnelo Furtado1, Annelie Marquardt2,3, Katrina Hodgson‑Kratky1, Nam V. Hoang1,4, Frederik C. Botha3, Gabriella Papa5,6, Jenny C. Mortimer6, Blake Simmons6 and Robert J. Henry1*
Abstract Background: The composition of biomass determines its suitability for different applications within a biorefinery system. The proportion of the major biomass fractions (sugar, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) may vary in different sugarcane genotypes and growth environments and different parts of the plant. This study investigated the composi‑ tion of mature and immature internodes, roots and mature leaves of sugarcane. Results: Internodes were found to have a significantly larger alcohol-soluble component than leaves and roots. The primary difference between the immature and mature internodes was the ratio of soluble sugars. In mature tissues, sucrose content was significantly higher, whereas in immature internodal tissues there was lower sucrose and height‑ ened concentrations of reducing sugars. Carbon (C) partitioning in leaf tissues was characterised by low levels of soluble components and high “other” and cell wall fractions. Root tissue had low ratios of soluble fractions relative to their cell wall contents, indicating a lack of storage of soluble carbon. There was no significant difference in the ratio of the major cell wall fractions between the major organ types. Characterisation of individual non-cellulosic monomers indicated leaf and root tissues had significantly higher arabinose and galactose fractions. Significantly larger propor‑ tions of syringyl lignin compounds and the hydroxycinnamic compound, p-coumaric acid were observed in mature internodal tissues compared to the other tissue types. Tissue-specific differences in composition were shown to greatly affect the recalcitrance of the cell wall to enzymatic saccharification. Conclusions: Overall, this study displayed clear evidence of the differential partitioning of C throughout the sugar‑ cane plant in specific organs. These organ-specific differences have major implications in their utility as a bioproduct feedstock. For example, the inclusion of trash (leaves) with the culms (internodes) may alter processing efficiency. Keywords: Carbon partitioning, Sugarcane (saccharum spp. hybrids), Compositional analysis, Cell wall, Soluble sugars Background Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids), of the Saccharum genus, is a crop plant utilised primarily in the production of sucrose. More recently, the need has arisen to *Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), Level 2, Queensland Biosciences Precinct [#80], The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
diversify the sugarcane industry beyond the focused production of sucrose, due to the falling p
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