Desirable plant cell wall traits for higher-quality miscanthus lignocellulosic biomass

Abstract

Background Lignocellulosic biomass from dedicated energy crops such as Miscanthus spp. is an important tool to combat anthropogenic climate change. However, we still do not exactly understand the sources of cell wall recalcitrance to deconstruction, which hinders the efficient biorefining of plant biomass into biofuels and bioproducts. Results We combined detailed phenotyping, correlation studies and discriminant analyses, to identify key significantly distinct variables between miscanthus organs, genotypes and most importantly, between saccharification performances. Furthermore, for the first time in an energy crop, normalised total quantification of specific cell wall glycan epitopes is reported and correlated with saccharification. Conclusions In stems, lignin has the greatest impact on recalcitrance. However, in leaves, matrix glycans and their decorations have determinant effects, highlighting the importance of biomass fine structures, in addition to more commonly described cell wall compositional features. The results of our interrogation of the miscanthus cell wall promote the concept that desirable cell wall traits for increased biomass quality are highly dependent on the target biorefining products. Thus, for the development of biorefining ideotypes, instead of a generalist miscanthus variety, more realistic and valuable approaches may come from defining a collection of specialised cultivars, adapted to specific conditions and purposes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13068-019-1426-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Arabidopsiscell wall composition determines disease resistance specificity and fitness

“…Notably, we have also demonstrated here that the level of a 6-linked β -galactan epitope present in RGI and arabinogalactans (CCRC-M22) and of acetylated-mannan/galactomannan (CCRC-M170/CCRC-M175) correlated with rosette biomass and seed production, respectively, indicating that wall composition can also determine plant fitness. These data are in accordance with previous results showing that high-density quantitative glycan microarrays, used in conjunction with association mapping, can detect pertinent variations related to plant cell wall genetics (12,79,80). Since the specificity of the carbohydrate moieties recognized by some of the antibodies identified here has not been fully established yet, in contrast to other antibodies of the glycomics collection (59), it cannot be excluded that disease resistance/fitness traits could be associated to other types of wall epitopes than those described here.…”

“…We show here that glycome profiling analysis of these extracts provide a more precise picture of wall modifications impacting disease resistance. Our data also show that mathematical modelling by CRT of glycome profiling of plant genotypes provides detailed and biologically consistent links between cell wall composition and disease resistance/fitness phenotypes, as it has been previously reported for the determination of cell wall digestibility of plant genotypes biomass (12,79,80).…”

Mechanical stimulation in Brachypodium distachyon: Implications for fitness, productivity, and cell wall properties

“…The abundance and organization of the different cell wall components differ depending on developmental stage, organ type, and cell type (da Costa et al, ; Hatfield et al, ). As the cell wall plays an important role in the adaptation of plants to changing environmental conditions (Le Gall et al, ) and cell wall‐related traits are a primary determinant for the quality of forages (Jung & Allen, ) and biomass quality for biorefining (da Costa et al, ), it is important to assess the impact of mechanical stimulation on the cell wall properties of grasses.…”

Comparing chemical composition and lignin structure of Miscanthus x giganteus and Miscanthus nagara harvested in autumn and spring and separated into stems and leaves

“…Based on the results, future exploitation of Miscanthus should be directed to "specialized cultivars". 29 Besides cell wall composition analysis, lignins have been isolated from Miscanthus plants and analyzed regarding their detailed 3D structure. Focus of most studies is the inuence of the pre-treatment methods and corresponding parameters (e.g.…”