Lignin engineering in forest trees: From gene discovery to field trials.

Wood is an abundant and renewable feedstock for the production of pulp, fuels, and biobased materials. However, wood is recalcitrant toward deconstruction into cellulose and simple sugars, mainly because of the presence of lignin, an aromatic polymer that shields cell-wall polysaccharides. Hence, numerous research efforts have focused on engineering lignin amount and composition to improve wood processability.

Inhibiting tricin biosynthesis improves maize lignocellulose saccharification.

Lignin is a technological bottleneck to convert polysaccharides into fermentable sugars, and different strategies of genetic-based metabolic engineering have been applied to improve biomass saccharification. Using maize seedlings grown hydroponically for 24 h, we conducted a quick non-transgenic approach with five enzyme inhibitors of the lignin and tricin pathways. Two compounds [3,4-(methylenedioxy)cinnamic acid: MDCA and 2,4-pyridinedicarboxylic acid: PDCA] revealed interesting findings on root growth, lignin composition, and saccharification.

Aluminum oxide nanoparticles affect the cell wall structure and lignin composition slightly altering the soybean growth.

Aluminum oxide (AlO) nanoparticles (NPs) are among the nanoparticles most used industrially, but their impacts on living organisms are widely unknown. We evaluated the effects of 50-1000 mg L AlO NPs on the growth, metabolism of lignin and its monomeric composition in soybean plants. AlO NPs did not affect the length of roots and stems.

Design of experiments driven optimization of alkaline pretreatment and saccharification for sugarcane bagasse.

To maximize the sugar release from sugarcane bagasse, a high-resolution Fractional Factorial Design (FFD) was combined with a Central Composite Orthogonal (CCO) design to simultaneously evaluate a wide range of variables for alkaline pretreatment (NaOH: 0.1-1 mol/L, temperature: 100-220 °C, and time: 20-80 min) and enzymatic saccharification (enzyme loading: 2.5-17.

Suppression of a BAHD acyltransferase decreases p-coumaroyl on arabinoxylan and improves biomass digestibility in the model grass Setaria viridis.

Grass cell walls have hydroxycinnamic acids attached to arabinosyl residues of arabinoxylan (AX), and certain BAHD acyltransferases are involved in their addition. In this study, we characterized one of these BAHD genes in the cell wall of the model grass Setaria viridis. RNAi silenced lines of S.

Feruloyl esterase activity and its role in regulating the feruloylation of maize cell walls.

Cell walls of grasses have ferulic acid (FA) ester-linked to the arabinosyl substitutions of arabinoxylan (AX). Feruloyl esterases (FAE) are carboxylic acid esterases that release FA from cell walls and synthetic substrates. Despite the importance of FA for cell wall recalcitrance and in response to biotic and abiotic stresses, the physiological function of plant FAEs remains unclear.

Cell wall remodeling under salt stress: Insights into changes in polysaccharides, feruloylation, lignification, and phenolic metabolism in maize.

Although cell wall polymers play important roles in the tolerance of plants to abiotic stress, the effects of salinity on cell wall composition and metabolism in grasses remain largely unexplored. Here, we conducted an in-depth study of changes in cell wall composition and phenolic metabolism induced upon salinity in maize seedlings and plants. Cell wall characterization revealed that salt stress modulated the deposition of cellulose, matrix polysaccharides and lignin in seedling roots, plant roots and stems.

Feruloyl esterases: Biocatalysts to overcome biomass recalcitrance and for the production of bioactive compounds.

Ferulic acid and its hydroxycinnamate derivatives represent one of the most abundant forms of low molecular weight phenolic compounds in plant biomass. Feruloyl esterases are part of a microorganism's plant cell wall-degrading enzymatic arsenal responsible for cleaving insoluble wall-bound hydroxycinnamates and soluble cytosolic conjugates. Stimulated by industrial requirements, accelerating scientific discoveries and knowledge transfer, continuous improvement efforts have been made to identify, create and repurposed biocatalysts dedicated to plant biomass conversion and biosynthesis of high-added value molecules.

Ferulic acid: a key component in grass lignocellulose recalcitrance to hydrolysis.

In the near future, grasses must provide most of the biomass for the production of renewable fuels. However, grass cell walls are characterized by a large quantity of hydroxycinnamic acids such as ferulic and p-coumaric acids, which are thought to reduce the biomass saccharification. Ferulic acid (FA) binds to lignin, polysaccharides and structural proteins of grass cell walls cross-linking these components.

Endophytic fungi: expanding the arsenal of industrial enzyme producers.

Endophytic fungi, mostly belonging to the Ascomycota, are found in the intercellular spaces of the aerial plant parts, particularly in leaf sheaths, sometimes even within the bark and root system without inducing any visual symptoms of their presence. These fungi appear to have a capacity to produce a wide range of enzymes and secondary metabolites exhibiting a variety of biological activities. However, they have been only barely exploited as sources of enzymes of industrial interest.