title: Biomass enzymatic saccharification is determined by the non-KOH-extractable wall polymer features that predominately affect cellulose crystallinity in corn.
abstract: Corn is a major food crop with enormous biomass residues for biofuel production. Due to cell wall recalcitrance, it becomes essential to identify the key factors of lignocellulose on biomass saccharification. In this study, we examined total 40 corn accessions that displayed a diverse cell wall composition. Correlation analysis showed that cellulose and lignin levels negatively affected biomass digestibility after NaOH pretreatments at p<0.05 & 0.01, but hemicelluloses did not show any significant impact on hexoses yields. Comparative analysis of five standard pairs of corn samples indicated that cellulose and lignin should not be the major factors on biomass saccharification after pretreatments with NaOH and H2SO4 at three concentrations. Notably, despite that the non-KOH-extractable residues covered 12%-23% hemicelluloses and lignin of total biomass, their wall polymer features exhibited the predominant effects on biomass enzymatic hydrolysis including Ara substitution degree of xylan (reverse Xyl/Ara) and S/G ratio of lignin. Furthermore, the non-KOH-extractable polymer features could significantly affect lignocellulose crystallinity at p<0.05, leading to a high biomass digestibility. Hence, this study could suggest an optimal approach for genetic modification of plant cell walls in bioenergy corn.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Leiming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hongwu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhiliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Pengyan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shengqiu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yonglian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liangcai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D001704:Biopolymers / Q000378:metabolism; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D003460:Crystallization; D004798:Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D006878:Hydroxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D017680:Potassium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D003313:Zea mays / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; D004798:Enzymes; D006878:Hydroxides; D017680:Potassium Compounds; D002482:Cellulose; C029943:potassium hydroxide