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Happs R, Hanes RJ, Bartling AW, Field JL, Harman-Ware AE, Clark RJ, Pendergast TH, Devos KM, Webb EG, Missaoui A, Xu Y, Makaju S, Shrestha V, Mazarei M, Stewart CN, Millwood RJ, Davison BH. Economic and Sustainability Impacts of Yield and Composition Variation in Bioenergy Crops: Switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.). ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING 2024; 12:1897-1910. [PMID: 38333206 PMCID: PMC10848292 DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c05770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Economically viable production of biobased products and fuels requires high-yielding, high-quality, sustainable process-advantaged crops, developed using bioengineering or advanced breeding approaches. Understanding which crop phenotypic traits have the largest impact on biofuel economics and sustainability outcomes is important for the targeted feedstock crop development. Here, we evaluated biomass yield and cell-wall composition traits across a large natural variant population of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) grown across three common garden sites. Samples from 331 switchgrass genotypes were collected and analyzed for carbohydrate and lignin components. Considering plant survival and biomass after multiple years of growth, we found that 84 of the genotypes analyzed may be suited for commercial production in the southeastern U.S. These genotypes show a range of growth and compositional traits across the population that are apparently independent of each other. We used these data to conduct techno-economic analyses and life cycle assessments evaluating the performance of each switchgrass genotype under a standard cellulosic ethanol process model with pretreatment, added enzymes, and fermentation. We find that switchgrass yield per area is the largest economic driver of the minimum fuel selling price (MSFP), ethanol yield per hectare, global warming potential (GWP), and cumulative energy demand (CED). At any yield, the carbohydrate content is significant but of secondary importance. Water use follows similar trends but has more variability due to an increased dependence on the biorefinery model. Analyses presented here highlight the primary importance of plant yield and the secondary importance of carbohydrate content when selecting a feedstock that is both economical and sustainable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renee
M. Happs
- Renewable
Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Rebecca J. Hanes
- Strategic
Energy Analysis Center, National Renewable
Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Andrew W. Bartling
- Catalytic
Carbon and Transformation Center, National
Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - John L. Field
- Environmental
Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Anne E. Harman-Ware
- Renewable
Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Robin J. Clark
- Environmental
Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Thomas H. Pendergast
- Institute
of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of
Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Katrien M. Devos
- Institute
of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of
Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Erin G. Webb
- Environmental
Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Ali Missaoui
- Institute
of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of
Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Yaping Xu
- Department
of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Shiva Makaju
- Institute
of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of
Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Vivek Shrestha
- Department
of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Mitra Mazarei
- Department
of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Charles Neal Stewart
- Department
of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Reginald J. Millwood
- Department
of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Brian H. Davison
- Biosciences
Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
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Khasanova A, Edwards J, Bonnette J, Singer E, Haque T, Juenger TE. Quantitative genetic-by-soil microbiome interactions in a perennial grass affect functional traits. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20221350. [PMID: 36651054 PMCID: PMC9845970 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Plants interact with diverse microbiomes that can impact plant growth and performance. Recent studies highlight the potential beneficial aspects of plant microbiomes, including the possibility that microbes facilitate the process of local adaptation in their host plants. Microbially mediated local adaptation in plants occurs when local host genotypes have higher fitness than foreign genotypes because of their affiliation with locally beneficial microbes. Here, plant adaptation results from genetic interactions of the host with locally beneficial microbes (e.g. host genotype-by-microbiome interactions). We used a recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population derived from upland and lowland ecotypes of the diploid C4 perennial bunch grass Panicum hallii to explore quantitative genetic responses to soil microbiomes focusing on functional root and shoot traits involved in ecotypic divergence. We show that the growth and development of ecotypes and their trait divergence depends on soil microbiomes. Moreover, we find that the genetic architecture is modified by soil microbiomes, revealing important plant genotype-by-microbiome interactions for quantitative traits. We detected a number of quantitative trait loci (QTL) that interact with the soil microbiome. Our results highlight the importance of microbial interactions in ecotypic divergence and trait genetic architecture in C4 perennial grasses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albina Khasanova
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2415 Speedway #C0930, Austin, TX 78712, USA,Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 717 Potter Street, Berkeley, CA 94710, USA
| | - Joseph Edwards
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2415 Speedway #C0930, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Jason Bonnette
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2415 Speedway #C0930, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Esther Singer
- Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 717 Potter Street, Berkeley, CA 94710, USA
| | - Taslima Haque
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2415 Speedway #C0930, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Thomas E. Juenger
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2415 Speedway #C0930, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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