title: Evaluation of a transgenic poplar as a potential biomass crop for biofuel production.
abstract: A transgenic poplar, in which the RabG3bCA gene from Arabidopsis was overexpressed, was analyzed for its biomass composition and enzymatic digestibility after chemical pretreatment. In comparison with a wild-type poplar (WT), the transgenic poplar (OX8) showed 9.8% higher glucan content. The levels of other biomass components did not differ greatly between WT and OX8. When WT and OX8 samples were pretreated by sulfuric acid (1%, w/v at 190 °C), sodium hydroxide (1%, w/v at 190 °C), or ammonia (14%, w/w at 80 °C), the washed pretreated solids of OX8 exhibited a higher enzymatic digestibility than those of WT in each chemical pretreatment. The sodium hydroxide pretreatment was the most effective among the three pretreatment processes, showing 58.7% and 69.4% of theoretical glucose yield from the saccharification of pretreated OX8 and WT, respectively. The transgenic poplar, growing faster and taller, was found to contain more glucan and have a higher enzymatic digestibility than WT.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young Hoon
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Hong Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Jae-Soon
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Eun Woon
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: Ohkmae K
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Kyoung Heon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis; D018533:Biomass; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002480:Cellulase / Q000378:metabolism*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D008697:Methane / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000378:metabolism*; D032107:Populus / Q000502:physiology*; D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D002482:Cellulose; D002480:Cellulase; C556156:RabG3b protein, Arabidopsis; D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins; D008697:Methane