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A cell wall reference profile for Miscanthus bioenergy crops highlights compositional and structural variations associated with development and organ origin
Author(s) -
da Costa Ricardo M. F.,
Pattathil Sivakumar,
Avci Utku,
Lee Scott J.,
Hazen Samuel P.,
Winters Ana,
Hahn Michael G.,
Bosch Maurice
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.14306
Subject(s) - miscanthus , bioenergy , biomass (ecology) , energy crop , lignocellulosic biomass , cell wall , trichoderma reesei , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , biofuel , botany , cellulose , agronomy , biochemistry , cellulase
SummaryMiscanthus spp. are promising lignocellulosic energy crops, but cell wall recalcitrance to deconstruction still hinders their widespread use as bioenergy and biomaterial feedstocks. Identification of cell wall characteristics desirable for biorefining applications is crucial for lignocellulosic biomass improvement. However, the task of scoring biomass quality is often complicated by the lack of a reference for a given feedstock. A multidimensional cell wall analysis was performed to generate a reference profile for leaf and stem biomass from several miscanthus genotypes harvested at three developmentally distinct time points. A comprehensive suite of 155 monoclonal antibodies was used to monitor changes in distribution, structure and extractability of noncellulosic cell wall matrix glycans. Glycan microarrays complemented with immunohistochemistry elucidated the nature of compositional variation, and in situ distribution of carbohydrate epitopes. Key observations demonstrated that there are crucial differences in miscanthus cell wall glycomes, which may impact biomass amenability to deconstruction. For the first time, variations in miscanthus cell wall glycan components were comprehensively characterized across different harvests, organs and genotypes, to generate a representative reference profile for miscanthus cell wall biomass. Ultimately, this portrait of the miscanthus cell wall will help to steer breeding and genetic engineering strategies for the development of superior energy crops.