title: Enhancing digestibility and ethanol yield of Populus wood via expression of an engineered monolignol 4-O-methyltransferase.
abstract: Producing cellulosic biofuels and bio-based chemicals from woody biomass is impeded by the presence of lignin polymer in the plant cell wall. Manipulating the monolignol biosynthetic pathway offers a promising approach to improved processability, but often impairs plant growth and development. Here, we show that expressing an engineered 4-O-methyltransferase that chemically modifies the phenolic moiety of lignin monomeric precursors, thus preventing their incorporation into the lignin polymer, substantially alters hybrid aspens' lignin content and structure. Woody biomass derived from the transgenic aspens shows a 62% increase in the release of simple sugars and up to a 49% increase in the yield of ethanol when the woody biomass is subjected to enzymatic digestion and yeast-mediated fermentation. Moreover, the cell wall structural changes do not affect growth and biomass production of the trees. Our study provides a useful strategy for tailoring woody biomass for bio-based applications.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Yuanheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Kewei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, and the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, The Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53726, USA.
authors.forename: Hoon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Dewel Microscopy Facility, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina 28608-2027, USA.
authors.forename: Guichuan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Xuebin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Huijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.|Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey 07043, USA.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, and the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, The Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53726, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ralph
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Chang-Jun
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6189-8756
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D008031:Lignin / Q000378:metabolism*; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D010636:Phenols / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism; D032107:Populus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D010636:Phenols; D011134:Polysaccharides; D000431:Ethanol; D008031:Lignin; D008780:Methyltransferases