Glucanocellulosic ethanol

TY - JOUR

T1 - Glucanocellulosic ethanol

T2 - the undiscovered biofuel potential in energy crops and marine biomass

AU - Falter, Christian

AU - Zwikowics, Claudia

AU - Eggert, Dennis

AU - Blümke, Antje

AU - Naumann, Marcel

AU - Wolff, Kerstin

AU - Ellinger, Dorothea

AU - Reimer, Rudolph

AU - Voigt, Christian A

PY - 2015/9/1

Y1 - 2015/9/1

N2 - Converting biomass to biofuels is a key strategy in substituting fossil fuels to mitigate climate change. Conventional strategies to convert lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol address the fermentation of cellulose-derived glucose. Here we used super-resolution fluorescence microscopy to uncover the nanoscale structure of cell walls in the energy crops maize and Miscanthus where the typical polymer cellulose forms an unconventional layered architecture with the atypical (1, 3)-β-glucan polymer callose. This raised the question about an unused potential of (1, 3)-β-glucan in the fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass. Engineering biomass conversion for optimized (1, 3)-β-glucan utilization, we increased the ethanol yield from both energy crops. The generation of transgenic Miscanthus lines with an elevated (1, 3)-β-glucan content further increased ethanol yield providing a new strategy in energy crop breeding. Applying the (1, 3)-β-glucan-optimized conversion method on marine biomass from brown macroalgae with a naturally high (1, 3)-β-glucan content, we not only substantially increased ethanol yield but also demonstrated an effective co-fermentation of plant and marine biomass. This opens new perspectives in combining different kinds of feedstock for sustainable and efficient biofuel production, especially in coastal regions.

AB - Converting biomass to biofuels is a key strategy in substituting fossil fuels to mitigate climate change. Conventional strategies to convert lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol address the fermentation of cellulose-derived glucose. Here we used super-resolution fluorescence microscopy to uncover the nanoscale structure of cell walls in the energy crops maize and Miscanthus where the typical polymer cellulose forms an unconventional layered architecture with the atypical (1, 3)-β-glucan polymer callose. This raised the question about an unused potential of (1, 3)-β-glucan in the fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass. Engineering biomass conversion for optimized (1, 3)-β-glucan utilization, we increased the ethanol yield from both energy crops. The generation of transgenic Miscanthus lines with an elevated (1, 3)-β-glucan content further increased ethanol yield providing a new strategy in energy crop breeding. Applying the (1, 3)-β-glucan-optimized conversion method on marine biomass from brown macroalgae with a naturally high (1, 3)-β-glucan content, we not only substantially increased ethanol yield but also demonstrated an effective co-fermentation of plant and marine biomass. This opens new perspectives in combining different kinds of feedstock for sustainable and efficient biofuel production, especially in coastal regions.

KW - Biofuels

KW - Biomass

KW - Brachypodium/metabolism

KW - Ethanol/metabolism

KW - Hordeum/metabolism

KW - Lignin/metabolism

KW - Microscopy, Fluorescence

KW - Plant Leaves/metabolism

KW - Poaceae/metabolism

KW - Triticum/metabolism

KW - Zea mays/metabolism

KW - beta-Glucans/chemistry

U2 - 10.1038/srep13722

DO - 10.1038/srep13722

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 26324382

VL - 5

SP - 13722

JO - SCI REP-UK

JF - SCI REP-UK

SN - 2045-2322

ER -