title: Silica distinctively affects cell wall features and lignocellulosic saccharification with large enhancement on biomass production in rice.
abstract: Rice is a typical silicon-accumulating crop with enormous biomass residues for biofuels. Silica is a cell wall component, but its effect on the plant cell wall and biomass production remains largely unknown. In this study, a systems biology approach was performed using 42 distinct rice cell wall mutants. We found that silica levels are significantly positively correlated with three major wall polymers, indicating that silica is associated with the cell wall network. Silicon-supplied hydroculture analysis demonstrated that silica distinctively affects cell wall composition and major wall polymer features, including cellulose crystallinity (CrI), arabinose substitution degree (reverse Xyl/Ara) of xylans, and sinapyl alcohol (S) proportion in three typical rice mutants. Notably, the silicon supplement exhibited dual effects on biomass enzymatic digestibility in the mutant and wild type (NPB) after pre-treatments with 1% NaOH and 1% H2SO4. In addition, silicon supply largely enhanced plant height, mechanical strength and straw biomass production, suggesting that silica rescues mutant growth defects. Hence, this study provides potential approaches for silicon applications in biomass process and bioenergy rice breeding.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Yongqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Zhiliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Yanting
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Science, North Dakota State University, Loftsgard Hall, P.O. Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108, USA.
authors.forename: Xiwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: lpeng@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Liangcai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis; D018533:Biomass; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018527:Hydroponics; D008031:Lignin / Q000378:metabolism*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009154:Mutation; D012275:Oryza / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000069600:Plant Breeding; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000502:physiology; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; C036909:lignocellulose; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D008031:Lignin
keywords: Biomass digestibility; Biomass production; Cell wall; Plant strength; Rice; Silica