植物细胞壁多糖合成酶系及真菌降解酶系北大核心CSCD

秸秆类植物细胞壁多糖高效降解转化对我国农业经济的绿色可持续发展具有重要意义,然而植物细胞壁在长期进化过程中形成了复杂结构限制了工业化酶解转化的过程。一方面从植物细胞壁多糖合成酶系的多样性、细胞壁多糖成分的复杂性、超分子结构的异质性等方面综述了形成植物细胞壁抗降解屏障的原因;另一方面从真菌降解植物细胞壁酶系的多样性、不同菌株降解酶组成差异性等分析降解转化植物细胞壁时发挥的不同作用,从而为工业转化合理复配真菌降解酶系,提高秸秆生物质的利用效率提供理论支持。     

植物细胞壁多糖合成酶系及真菌降解酶系

秸秆类植物细胞壁多糖高效降解转化对我国农业经济的绿色可持续发展具有重要意义,然而植物细胞壁在长期进化过程中形成了复杂结构限制了工业化酶解转化的过程。一方面从植物细胞壁多糖合成酶系的多样性、细胞壁多糖成分的复杂性、超分子结构的异质性等方面综述了形成植物细胞壁抗降解屏障的原因;另一方面从真菌降解植物细胞壁酶系的多样性、不同菌株降解酶组成差异性等分析降解转化植物细胞壁时发挥的不同作用,从而为工业转化合理复配真菌降解酶系,提高秸秆生物质的利用效率提供理论支持。     

植物细胞壁沟槽结构与生物质利用研究展望

细胞壁是植物细胞的重要组成部分,是生物质的主要成分,不仅对植物形态学起中心调控作用,还对植物机械强度、纤维品质和生物质综合利用起决定性作用.本文将简要介绍植物细胞壁结构与功能研究进展,重点分析细胞壁关键结构因子,原创性提出植物细胞壁纳米级沟槽结构模型与生物质酶解分子机理,并探讨遗传改良植物细胞壁结构的新方法与新途径,旨在从本质上极大提高生物质综合利用效率,改良棉花纤维品质和增强作物抗逆能力.     

Purdue开展谷物基因研究促进生物燃料发展

Purdue大学的2位研究人员Nick Carpita和Maureen McCann指出,鉴别与植物细胞壁生长有关的基因并研究其功能,有助于开发新的、更高产的交通运输生物燃料。他们研究包括谷物在内的草类细胞壁的构成,目的是发掘更多的富含糖类并可高效转化为生物燃料的生物质。此外,研究小组还将分析玉米和柳枝稷基因。大部分植物只运用它们基因组中的10％左右进行细胞壁构建,     

木质纤维素生物质预处理研究现状

预处理是木质纤维素生物质转化为燃料乙醇的关键步骤,综述了现有常见预处理技术的国内外研究现状,同时分析比较了各处理技术的优缺点,并对今后木质纤维素生物质预处理的主要研究方向进行了展望,以期为木质纤维素生物质转化条件的优化提供参考。     

植物细胞壁结构及成像技术研究进展

植物细胞壁作为细胞外复杂交联网络,为植物细胞生长、发育以及适应环境变化提供机械支撑,具有调节植物形态、抵抗胁迫、运输水分等功能。除此之外,植物光合作用积累的生物质大部分贮藏在细胞壁中,因此,研究细胞壁的成分和纳微结构对更好的利用植物能源具有重要意义。植物细胞壁的结构研究是当今植物界研究的前沿热点之一。随着新型成像技术的发展,近年来关于细胞壁成分和纳微结构的研究取得了阶段性的进展。本文就植物细胞壁的成分、结构、成像技术和力学性质进行了总结与展望,以期为植物细胞壁的相关研究提供新思路。     

参与植物细胞壁半纤维素木聚糖合成的糖基转移酶

木聚糖是双子叶植物次生细胞壁中最主要的半纤维素,含有木聚糖的次生壁是最丰富的植物生物质,广泛应用于能源、制浆、造纸和纺织业中,但其主要组分戊糖对细胞壁生物质利用具有较大影响。揭示木聚糖合成的分子机制,为遗传修饰细胞壁组成,更好地利用细胞壁生物质提供新的策略。近年来对模式植物拟南芥中多个木聚糖合成有缺陷的突变体的分析表明：GT43家族的IRX9、IRX9-L、IRX14、IRX14-L,GT47家族的FRA8、F8H、IRX10、IRX10-L,GT8家族的IRX8、PARVUS、QUA1、GUX1、GUX2等参与了木聚糖主链、还原末端序列和侧链的合成。本文主要对这些研究进展做一综述,并讨论了木聚糖合成的机制及亟待解决的问题,展望了其发展趋势。     

木质纤维素预处理及高值化技术研究进展

木质纤维素生物质是地球上最丰富的可再生生物资源。随着化石能源的消耗及环境的污染,以取代石化燃料为目标的由生物质向生物燃料的转化受到了广泛的关注。木质纤维素有很强的天然抗降解屏障,需先通过物理、化学及微生物等手段进行预处理,进而以更低的成本和更高的效率转化为生物燃料及其他高附加值产品。本文在总结酸碱等传统预处理方法优缺点的基础上,综述了各种组合预处理对这些传统预处理方法的改进,以及γ-戊内酯预处理、低共熔溶剂预处理、微生物联合体生态位预处理这些新型预处理技术的研究进展,总结了木质素高值化过程中木质素的保护、解聚、改性的新方法,指出了预处理方法在工业生产中的应用及不足,以期为木质纤维素生物质转化的研究提供参考。     

植物细胞壁多糖乙酰化修饰与生物学功能

乙酰化修饰是植物细胞壁多糖最为普遍的修饰形式,调控细胞壁理化性质及多聚物间相互交联,并影响细胞壁结构与功能。植物生长发育过程中,多糖的乙酰化修饰呈现一定的规律性和动态变化,表明细胞壁多糖乙酰化修饰受到了严格的调控。近年来随着多种类型的乙酰转移酶和乙酰酯酶的发现,揭示了多糖乙酰化修饰调控机制的复杂性。这些关键酶的功能鉴定也为探究多糖乙酰化修饰的生物学功能提供了重要线索。乙酰化修饰变异影响植物生长发育,并调控植物的抗逆反应。此外,乙酰化修饰的改变还可影响植物纤维生物质的利用价值,一些关键酶因而有望成为改良农艺性状和提高纤维生物质利用价值的靶标。围绕上述方面,本文总结了该领域所取得的进展,并对面临的挑战进行了展望。     

拟南芥种皮粘液质形成及调控机制研究进展

植物细胞壁是地球上储量最丰富的可再生资源,是人类生产和生活中能源、纤维、建筑材料和造纸等原料的主要来源。植物细胞壁的形成机制一直是近年来的研究热点,研究植物细胞壁的形成机制不仅有助于更高效地将细胞壁转化为生物乙醇等可再生能源,也将促进纤维生物质在食品、药品和纺织等领域的更高效利用,对于新能源开发和人类生产生活均具有十分重要的意义。一些十字花科(如拟南芥,Arabidopsis thaliana)和车前科植物的种皮外层细胞在发育过程中会合成和分泌大量的粘液质多糖,其在种子遇水后膨胀并释放,形成透明胶状物质包裹种子周围。拟南芥种皮粘液质的主要成分为果胶质(主要为鼠李半乳糖醛酸聚糖I),同时还含有少量的纤维素和半纤维素成分。种皮粘液质作为一种特化的细胞壁,具有表型容易观察、分离提取简便、组成相对单一、缺失不影响植株生长发育等优点,已成为研究植物细胞壁(果胶)多糖合成、调控及细胞壁组分间互作的理想模式体系,近年来取得了较大的研究进展,本文主要介绍拟南芥种皮粘液质的形成、组成及其调控机制方面的研究进展。     

The Goals and Research of the BioEnergy Sciences Center (BESC): Developing Cost-effective and Sustainable Means of Producing Biofuels by Overcoming Biomass Recalcitrance

The mission of BioEnergy Sciences Center is to understand and overcome the recalcitrance of biomass to conversion by modifying plant cell walls with improved biocatalysts. The papers in this volume are from the plant transformation and the biomass characterization areas, and showcase the multidisciplinary and multi-institutional nature of the center.     

Visualizing lignin coalescence and migration through maize cell walls following thermochemical pretreatment

Plant cell walls are composed primarily of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignins, and pectins. Of these components, lignins exhibit unique chemistry and physiological functions. Although lignins can be used as a product feedstock or as a fuel, lignins are also generally seen as a barrier to efficient enzymatic breakdown of biomass to sugars. Indeed, many pretreatment strategies focus on removing a significant fraction of lignin from biomass to better enable saccharification. In order to better understand the fate of biomass lignins that remain with the solids following dilute acid pretreatment, we undertook a structural investigation to track lignins on and in biomass cell walls. SEM and TEM imaging revealed a range of droplet morphologies that appear on and within cell walls of pretreated biomass; as well as the specific ultrastructural regions that accumulate the droplets. These droplets were shown to contain lignin by FTIR, NMR, antibody labeling, and cytochemical staining. We provide evidence supporting the idea that thermochemical pretreatments reaching temperatures above the range for lignin phase transition cause lignins to coalesce into larger molten bodies that migrate within and out of the cell wall, and can redeposit on the surface of plant cell walls. This decompartmentalization and relocalization of lignins is likely to be at least as important as lignin removal in the quest to improve the digestibility of biomass for sugars and fuels production.     

Genetic Modification of Herbaceous Plants for Feed and Fuel

Referee: Dr. E. Charles Brummer, Forage Breeding and Genetics, 1204 Agromonomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 Much of the research on the genetic modification of herbaceous plant cell walls has been conducted to improve the utilization of forages by ruminant livestock. The rumen of these animals is basically an anaerobic fermentation vat in which the micro flora break down the complex polysaccharides of plant cell walls into simpler compounds that can be further digested and absorbed by the mammalian digestive system. Research on improving the forage digestibility of switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L., and other herbaceous species has demonstrated that genetic improvements can be made in forage quality that can have significant economic value. To meet future energy needs, herbaceous biomass will need to be converted into a liquid fuel, probably ethanol, via conversion technologies still under development. If feedstock quality can be genetically improved, the economics and efficiency of the conversion processes could be significantly enhanced. Improving an agricultural product for improved end product use via genetic modification requires knowledge of desired quality attributes, the relative economic value of the quality parameters in relation to yield, genetic variation for the desired traits, or for molecular breeding, knowledge of genes to suppress or add, and knowledge of any associated negative consequences of genetic manipulation. Because conversion technology is still under development, desirable plant feedstock characteristics have not been completely delineated. Some traits such as cellulose and lignin concentration will undoubtably be important. Once traits that affect biomass feedstock conversion are identified, it will be highly feasible to genetically modify the feedstock quality of herbaceous plants using both conventional and molecular breeding techniques. The use of molecular markers and transformation technology will greatly enhance the capability of breeders to modify the morphologic structure and cell walls of herbaceous species. It will be necessary to monitor gene flow to remnant wild populations of biomass plants and have strategies available to curtail gene flow if it becomes a potential problem. It will also be necessary to monitor plant survival and long-term productivity as affected by these genetic changes to herbaceous species.     

Lignins and lignocellulosics: a better control of synthesis for new and improved uses

The composition and structure of lignified walls has a dramatic impact on the technological value of raw materials. The chemical flexibility of the secondary cell wall has been demonstrated and it is now possible to develop strategies to optimize its composition through genetic engineering. Thanks to functional genomics, new target genes of both plant and microbial origin are rapidly becoming available for this purpose and their use will open new avenues for producing tailor-made plant products with improved properties. Moreover, the major proportion of terrestrial plant biomass comprises lignified cell walls and this reservoir of carbon should be increasingly exploited for the production of chemicals and energy within the context of sustainable development. For example, the design of plants suitable for downstream conversion processes, such as the production of bioethanol, and the exploitation of microorganisms and microbial enzymes for biomass pretreatments or for the production of novel chemicals.     

Epigallocatechin gallate incorporation into lignin enhances the alkaline delignification and enzymatic saccharification of cell walls

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Lignin is an integral component of the plant cell wall matrix but impedes the conversion of biomass into biofuels. The plasticity of lignin biosynthesis should permit the inclusion of new compatible phenolic monomers such as flavonoids into cell wall lignins that are consequently less recalcitrant to biomass processing. In the present study, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) was evaluated as a potential lignin bioengineering target for rendering biomass more amenable to processing for biofuel production. RESULTS: In vitro peroxidase-catalyzed polymerization experiments revealed that both gallate and pyrogallyl (B-ring) moieties in EGCG underwent radical cross-coupling with monolignols mainly by beta--O--4-type cross-coupling, producing benzodioxane units following rearomatization reactions. Biomimetic lignification of maize cell walls with a 3:1 molar ratio of monolignols and EGCG permitted extensive alkaline delignification of cell walls (72 to 92 %) that far exceeded that for lignified controls (44 to 62 %). Alkali-insoluble residues from EGCG-lignified walls yielded up to 34 % more glucose and total sugars following enzymatic saccharification than lignified controls. CONCLUSIONS: It was found that EGCG readily copolymerized with monolignols to become integrally cross-coupled into cell wall lignins, where it greatly enhanced alkaline delignification and subsequent enzymatic saccharification. Improved delignification may be attributed to internal trapping of quinone-methide intermediates to prevent benzyl ether cross-linking of lignin to structural polysaccharides during lignification, and to the cleavage of ester intra-unit linkages within EGCG during pretreatment. Overall, our results suggest that apoplastic deposition of EGCG for incorporation into lignin would be a promising plant genetic engineering target for improving the delignification and saccharification of biomass crops.     

Detecting cellulase penetration into corn stover cell walls by immuno‐electron microscopy

In general, pretreatments are designed to enhance the accessibility of cellulose to enzymes, allowing for more efficient conversion. In this study, we have detected the penetration of major cellulases present in a commercial enzyme preparation (Spezyme CP) into corn stem cell walls following mild‐, moderate‐ and high‐severity dilute sulfuric acid pretreatments. The Trichoderma reesei enzymes, Cel7A (CBH I) and Cel7B (EG I), as well as the cell wall matrix components xylan and lignin were visualized within digested corn stover cell walls by immuno transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using enzyme‐ and polymer‐specific antibodies. Low severity dilute‐acid pretreatment (20 min at 100°C) enabled <1% of the thickness of secondary cell walls to be penetrated by enzyme, moderate severity pretreatment at (20 min at 120°C) allowed the enzymes to penetrate ～20% of the cell wall, and the high severity (20 min pretreatment at 150°C) allowed 100% penetration of even the thickest cell walls. These data allow direct visualization of the dramatic effect dilute‐acid pretreatment has on altering the condensed ultrastructure of biomass cell walls. Loosening of plant cell wall structure due to pretreatment and the subsequently improved access by cellulases has been hypothesized by the biomass conversion community for over two decades, and for the first time, this study provides direct visual evidence to verify this hypothesis. Further, the high‐resolution enzyme penetration studies presented here provide insight into the mechanisms of cell wall deconstruction by cellulolytic enzymes. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;103: 480–489. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Biochemical control of xylan biosynthesis - which end is up?

Xylans are major components of land plant secondary cell walls and are required for normal plant growth and development. Secondary walls also account for the bulk of lignocellulosic biomass, a potential feedstock for large-scale production of biofuels. Glucuronoxylan and arabinoxylan affect the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugar, a crucial and expensive step in biofuel production. Thus, knowledge of xylan biosynthesis may provide tools to modify secondary cell wall structure and thereby improve the bioprocessing characteristics of biomass. Recent studies have shown that glucuronoxylan structure and biosynthesis are far more complex than previously appreciated and the number of glycosyltransferases implicated in this process continues to increase. New hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of glucuronoxylan biosynthesis challenge some widely held views.     

OsCESA9 conserved‐site mutation leads to largely enhanced plant lodging resistance and biomass enzymatic saccharification by reducing cellulose DP and crystallinity in rice

Genetic modification of plant cell walls has been posed to reduce lignocellulose recalcitrance for enhancing biomass saccharification. Since cellulose synthase (CESA) gene was first identified, several dozen CESA mutants have been reported, but almost all mutants exhibit the defective phenotypes in plant growth and development. In this study, the rice (Oryza sativa) Osfc16 mutant with substitutions (W481C, P482S) at P‐CR conserved site in CESA9 shows a slightly affected plant growth and higher biomass yield by 25%–41% compared with wild type (Nipponbare, a japonica variety). Chemical and ultrastructural analyses indicate that Osfc16 has a significantly reduced cellulose crystallinity (CrI) and thinner secondary cell walls compared with wild type. CESA co‐IP detection, together with implementations of a proteasome inhibitor (MG132) and two distinct cellulose inhibitors (Calcofluor, CGA), shows that CESA9 mutation could affect integrity of CESA4/7/9 complexes, which may lead to rapid CESA proteasome degradation for low‐DP cellulose biosynthesis. These may reduce cellulose CrI, which improves plant lodging resistance, a major and integrated agronomic trait on plant growth and grain production, and enhances biomass enzymatic saccharification by up to 2.3‐fold and ethanol productivity by 34%–42%. This study has for the first time reported a direct modification for the low‐DP cellulose production that has broad applications in biomass industries.     

Modifying plants for biofuel and biomaterial production

The productivity of plants as biofuel or biomaterial crops is established by both the yield of plant biomass per unit area of land and the efficiency of conversion of the biomass to biofuel. Higher yielding biofuel crops with increased conversion efficiencies allow production on a smaller land footprint minimizing competition with agriculture for food production and biodiversity conservation. Plants have traditionally been domesticated for food, fibre and feed applications. However, utilization for biofuels may require the breeding of novel phenotypes, or new species entirely. Genomics approaches support genetic selection strategies to deliver significant genetic improvement of plants as sources of biomass for biofuel manufacture. Genetic modification of plants provides a further range of options for improving the composition of biomass and for plant modifications to assist the fabrication of biofuels. The relative carbohydrate and lignin content influences the deconstruction of plant cell walls to biofuels. Key options for facilitating the deconstruction leading to higher monomeric sugar release from plants include increasing cellulose content, reducing cellulose crystallinity, and/or altering the amount or composition of noncellulosic polysaccharides or lignin. Modification of chemical linkages within and between these biomass components may improve the ease of deconstruction. Expression of enzymes in the plant may provide a cost‐effective option for biochemical conversion to biofuel.