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Peracchi LM, Panahabadi R, Barros-Rios J, Bartley LE, Sanguinet KA. Grass lignin: biosynthesis, biological roles, and industrial applications. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2024; 15:1343097. [PMID: 38463570 PMCID: PMC10921064 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1343097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
Lignin is a phenolic heteropolymer found in most terrestrial plants that contributes an essential role in plant growth, abiotic stress tolerance, and biotic stress resistance. Recent research in grass lignin biosynthesis has found differences compared to dicots such as Arabidopsis thaliana. For example, the prolific incorporation of hydroxycinnamic acids into grass secondary cell walls improve the structural integrity of vascular and structural elements via covalent crosslinking. Conversely, fundamental monolignol chemistry conserves the mechanisms of monolignol translocation and polymerization across the plant phylum. Emerging evidence suggests grass lignin compositions contribute to abiotic stress tolerance, and periods of biotic stress often alter cereal lignin compositions to hinder pathogenesis. This same recalcitrance also inhibits industrial valorization of plant biomass, making lignin alterations and reductions a prolific field of research. This review presents an update of grass lignin biosynthesis, translocation, and polymerization, highlights how lignified grass cell walls contribute to plant development and stress responses, and briefly addresses genetic engineering strategies that may benefit industrial applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luigi M. Peracchi
- Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States
| | - Rahele Panahabadi
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States
| | - Jaime Barros-Rios
- Division of Plant Sciences and Interdisciplinary Plant Group, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Laura E. Bartley
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States
| | - Karen A. Sanguinet
- Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States
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2
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Dwivedi N, Yamamoto S, Zhao Y, Hou G, Bowling F, Tobimatsu Y, Liu C. Simultaneous suppression of lignin, tricin and wall-bound phenolic biosynthesis via the expression of monolignol 4-O-methyltransferases in rice. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL 2024; 22:330-346. [PMID: 37795899 PMCID: PMC10826995 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.14186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
Grass lignocelluloses feature complex compositions and structures. In addition to the presence of conventional lignin units from monolignols, acylated monolignols and flavonoid tricin also incorporate into lignin polymer; moreover, hydroxycinnamates, particularly ferulate, cross-link arabinoxylan chains with each other and/or with lignin polymers. These structural complexities make grass lignocellulosics difficult to optimize for effective agro-industrial applications. In the present study, we assess the applications of two engineered monolignol 4-O-methyltransferases (MOMTs) in modifying rice lignocellulosic properties. Two MOMTs confer regiospecific para-methylation of monolignols but with different catalytic preferences. The expression of MOMTs in rice resulted in differential but drastic suppression of lignin deposition, showing more than 50% decrease in guaiacyl lignin and up to an 90% reduction in syringyl lignin in transgenic lines. Moreover, the levels of arabinoxylan-bound ferulate were reduced by up to 50%, and the levels of tricin in lignin fraction were also substantially reduced. Concomitantly, up to 11 μmol/g of the methanol-extractable 4-O-methylated ferulic acid and 5-7 μmol/g 4-O-methylated sinapic acid were accumulated in MOMT transgenic lines. Both MOMTs in vitro displayed discernible substrate promiscuity towards a range of phenolics in addition to the dominant substrate monolignols, which partially explains their broad effects on grass phenolic biosynthesis. The cell wall structural and compositional changes resulted in up to 30% increase in saccharification yield of the de-starched rice straw biomass after diluted acid-pretreatment. These results demonstrate an effective strategy to tailor complex grass cell walls to generate improved cellulosic feedstocks for the fermentable sugar-based production of biofuel and bio-chemicals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nidhi Dwivedi
- Biology DepartmentBrookhaven Nation LaboratoryUptonNew YorkUSA
- Feedstocks DivisionJoint BioEnergy InstituteEmeryvilleCAUSA
| | - Senri Yamamoto
- Research Institute for Sustainable HumanosphereKyoto UniversityGokasho, UjiKyotoJapan
| | - Yunjun Zhao
- Biology DepartmentBrookhaven Nation LaboratoryUptonNew YorkUSA
| | - Guichuan Hou
- Dewel Microscopy FacilityAppalachian State UniversityBooneNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Forrest Bowling
- Biology DepartmentBrookhaven Nation LaboratoryUptonNew YorkUSA
| | - Yuki Tobimatsu
- Research Institute for Sustainable HumanosphereKyoto UniversityGokasho, UjiKyotoJapan
| | - Chang‐Jun Liu
- Biology DepartmentBrookhaven Nation LaboratoryUptonNew YorkUSA
- Feedstocks DivisionJoint BioEnergy InstituteEmeryvilleCAUSA
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3
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Lam LPY, Tobimatsu Y, Suzuki S, Tanaka T, Yamamoto S, Takeda-Kimura Y, Osakabe Y, Osakabe K, Ralph J, Bartley LE, Umezawa T. Disruption of p-coumaroyl-CoA:monolignol transferases in rice drastically alters lignin composition. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2024; 194:832-848. [PMID: 37831082 DOI: 10.1093/plphys/kiad549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Revised: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Grasses are abundant feedstocks that can supply lignocellulosic biomass for production of cell-wall-derived chemicals. In grass cell walls, lignin is acylated with p-coumarate. These p-coumarate decorations arise from the incorporation of monolignol p-coumarate conjugates during lignification. A previous biochemical study identified a rice (Oryza sativa) BAHD acyltransferase (AT) with p-coumaroyl-CoA:monolignol transferase (PMT) activity in vitro. In this study, we determined that that enzyme, which we name OsPMT1 (also known as OsAT4), and the closely related OsPMT2 (OsAT3) harbor similar catalytic activity toward monolignols. We generated rice mutants deficient in either or both OsPMT1 and OsPMT2 by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis and subjected the mutants' cell walls to analysis using chemical and nuclear magnetic resonance methods. Our results demonstrated that OsPMT1 and OsPMT2 both function in lignin p-coumaroylation in the major vegetative tissues of rice. Notably, lignin-bound p-coumarate units were undetectable in the ospmt1 ospmt2-2 double-knockout mutant. Further, in-depth structural analysis of purified lignins from the ospmt1 ospmt2-2 mutant compared with control lignins from wild-type rice revealed stark changes in polymer structures, including alterations in syringyl/guaiacyl aromatic unit ratios and inter-monomeric linkage patterns, and increased molecular weights. Our results provide insights into lignin polymerization in grasses that will be useful for the optimization of bioengineering approaches for the effective use of biomass in biorefineries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia Pui Ying Lam
- Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
- Center for Crossover Education, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Akita University, Akita, Akita 010-0852, Japan
| | - Yuki Tobimatsu
- Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
| | - Shiro Suzuki
- Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
- Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, and The United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Gifu University, Gifu, Gifu 501-1193Japan
| | - Takuto Tanaka
- Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
| | - Senri Yamamoto
- Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
| | - Yuri Takeda-Kimura
- Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
| | - Yuriko Osakabe
- School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-8502Japan
| | - Keishi Osakabe
- Faculty of Bioscience and Bioindustry, Tokushima University,Tokushima, Tokushima 770-8503Japan
| | - John Ralph
- Department of Biochemistry, and the U.S. Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53726, USA
| | - Laura E Bartley
- Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
| | - Toshiaki Umezawa
- Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
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4
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Wang P, Yan Y, Yan M, Piao X, Wang Y, Lei X, Yang H, Zhang N, Li W, Di P, Yang L. Identification and analysis of BAHD superfamily related to malonyl ginsenoside biosynthesis in Panax ginseng. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1301084. [PMID: 38186598 PMCID: PMC10768564 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1301084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Introduction The BAHD (benzylalcohol O-acetyl transferase, anthocyanin O-hydroxycinnamoyl transferase, N-hydroxycinnamoyl anthranilate benzoyl transferase and deacetylvindoline 4-O-acetyltransferase), has various biological functions in plants, including catalyzing the biosynthesis of terpenes, phenolics and esters, participating in plant stress response, affecting cell stability, and regulating fruit quality. Methods Bioinformatics methods, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR technology, and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography combined with an Orbitrap mass spectrometer were used to explore the relationship between the BAHD gene family and malonyl ginsenosides in Panax ginseng. Results In this study, 103 BAHD genes were identified in P. ginseng, mainly distributed in three major clades. Most PgBAHDs contain cis-acting elements associated with abiotic stress response and plant hormone response. Among the 103 genes, 68 PgBAHDs are WGD (whole-genome duplication) genes. The significance of malonylation in biosynthesis has garnered considerable attention in the study of malonyltransferases. The phylogenetic tree results showed 34 PgBAHDs were clustered with genes that have malonyl characterization. Among them, seven PgBAHDs (PgBAHD4, 45, 65, 74, 90, 97, and 99) showed correlations > 0.9 with crucial enzyme genes involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis and > 0.8 with malonyl ginsenosides. These seven genes were considered potential candidates involved in the biosynthesis of malonyl ginsenosides. Discussion These results help elucidate the structure, evolution, and functions of the P. ginseng BAHD gene family, and establish the foundation for further research on the mechanism of BAHD genes in ginsenoside biosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Peng Di
- State Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Ginseng Breeding and Application, College of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China
| | - Limin Yang
- State Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Ginseng Breeding and Application, College of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China
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Xu D, Wang Z, Zhuang W, Wang T, Xie Y. Family characteristics, phylogenetic reconstruction, and potential applications of the plant BAHD acyltransferase family. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1218914. [PMID: 37868312 PMCID: PMC10585174 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1218914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023]
Abstract
The BAHD acyltransferase family is a class of proteins in plants that can acylate a variety of primary and specialized secondary metabolites. The typically acylated products have greatly improved stability, lipid solubility, and bioavailability and thus show significant differences in their physicochemical properties and pharmacological activities. Here, we review the protein structure, catalytic mechanism, and phylogenetic reconstruction of plant BAHD acyltransferases to describe their family characteristics, acylation reactions, and the processes of potential functional differentiation. Moreover, the potential applications of the BAHD family in human activities are discussed from the perspectives of improving the quality of economic plants, enhancing the efficacy of medicinal plants, improving plant biomass for use in biofuel, and promoting stress resistance of land plants. This review provides a reference for the research and production of plant BAHD acyltransferases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donghuan Xu
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing, China
| | - Zhong Wang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing, China
| | - Weibing Zhuang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing, China
| | - Tao Wang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing, China
| | - Yinfeng Xie
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
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6
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Chen M, Li Y, Lu F, Luterbacher JS, Ralph J. Lignin Hydrogenolysis: Phenolic Monomers from Lignin and Associated Phenolates across Plant Clades. ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING 2023; 11:10001-10017. [PMID: 37448721 PMCID: PMC10337261 DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c01320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2023] [Revised: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Abstract
The chemical complexity of lignin remains a major challenge for lignin valorization into commodity and fine chemicals. A knowledge of the lignin features that favor its valorization and which plants produce such lignins can be used in plant selection or to engineer them to produce lignins that are more ideally suited for conversion. Sixteen biomass samples were compositionally surveyed by NMR and analytical degradative methods, and the yields of phenolic monomers following hydrogenolytic depolymerization were assessed to elucidate the key determinants controlling the depolymerization. Hardwoods, including those incorporating monolignol p-hydroxybenzoates into their syringyl/guaiacyl copolymeric lignins, produced high monomer yields by hydrogenolysis, whereas grasses incorporating monolignol p-coumarates and ferulates gave lower yields, on a lignin basis. Softwoods, with their more condensed guaiacyl lignins, gave the lowest yields. Lignins with a high syringyl unit content released elevated monomer levels, with a high-syringyl polar transgenic being particularly striking. Herein, we distinguish phenolic monomers resulting from the core lignin vs those from pendent phenolate esters associated with the biomass cell wall, acylating either polysaccharides or lignins. The basis for these observations is rationalized as a means to select or engineer biomass for optimal conversion to worthy phenolic monomers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingjie Chen
- Department
of Energy, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, Madison, Wisconsin 53726, United States
| | - Yanding Li
- Department
of Energy, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, Madison, Wisconsin 53726, United States
| | - Fachuang Lu
- Department
of Energy, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, Madison, Wisconsin 53726, United States
| | - Jeremy S. Luterbacher
- Institute
of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - John Ralph
- Department
of Energy, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, Madison, Wisconsin 53726, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
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7
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Eudes A, Lin CY, De Ben C, Ortega J, Lee MY, Chen YC, Li G, Putnam DH, Mortimer JC, Ronald PC, Scown CD, Scheller HV. Field performance of switchgrass plants engineered for reduced recalcitrance. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1181035. [PMID: 37324714 PMCID: PMC10266223 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1181035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a promising perennial bioenergy crop that achieves high yields with relatively low nutrient and energy inputs. Modification of cell wall composition for reduced recalcitrance can lower the costs of deconstructing biomass to fermentable sugars and other intermediates. We have engineered overexpression of OsAT10, encoding a rice BAHD acyltransferase and QsuB, encoding dehydroshikimate dehydratase from Corynebacterium glutamicum, to enhance saccharification efficiency in switchgrass. These engineering strategies demonstrated low lignin content, low ferulic acid esters, and increased saccharification yield during greenhouse studies in switchgrass and other plant species. In this work, transgenic switchgrass plants overexpressing either OsAT10 or QsuB were tested in the field in Davis, California, USA for three growing seasons. No significant differences in the content of lignin and cell wall-bound p-coumaric acid or ferulic acid were detected in transgenic OsAT10 lines compared with the untransformed Alamo control variety. However, the transgenic overexpressing QsuB lines had increased biomass yield and slightly increased biomass saccharification properties compared to the control plants. This work demonstrates good performance of engineered plants in the field, and also shows that the cell wall changes in the greenhouse were not replicated in the field, emphasizing the need to validate engineered plants under relevant field conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aymerick Eudes
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Chien-Yuan Lin
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Christopher De Ben
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Jasmine Ortega
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Mi Yeon Lee
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Yi-Chun Chen
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Guotian Li
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Daniel H. Putnam
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Jenny C. Mortimer
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine & Waite Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, SA, Australia
| | - Pamela C. Ronald
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Corinne D. Scown
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Energy & Biosciences Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Henrik V. Scheller
- Feedstocks and Life-Cycle, Economics and Agronomy Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
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Houston K, Learmonth A, Hassan AS, Lahnstein J, Looseley M, Little A, Waugh R, Burton RA, Halpin C. Natural variation in HvAT10 underlies grain cell wall-esterified phenolic acid content in cultivated barley. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1095862. [PMID: 37235033 PMCID: PMC10206312 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1095862] [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: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The phenolic acids, ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid, are components of plant cell walls in grasses, including many of our major food crops. They have important health-promoting properties in grain, and influence the digestibility of biomass for industrial processing and livestock feed. Both phenolic acids are assumed to be critical to cell wall integrity and ferulic acid, at least, is important for cross-linking cell wall components, but the role of p-coumaric acid is unclear. Here we identify alleles of a BAHD p-coumaroyl arabinoxylan transferase, HvAT10, as responsible for the natural variation in cell wall-esterified phenolic acids in whole grain within a cultivated two-row spring barley panel. We show that HvAT10 is rendered non-functional by a premature stop codon mutation in half of the genotypes in our mapping panel. This results in a dramatic reduction in grain cell wall-esterifed p-coumaric acid, a moderate rise in ferulic acid, and a clear increase in the ferulic acid to p-coumaric acid ratio. The mutation is virtually absent in wild and landrace germplasm suggesting an important function for grain arabinoxylan p-coumaroylation pre-domestication that is dispensable in modern agriculture. Intriguingly, we detected detrimental impacts of the mutated locus on grain quality traits where it was associated with smaller grain and poorer malting properties. HvAT10 could be a focus for improving grain quality for malting or phenolic acid content in wholegrain foods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Houston
- Cell and Molecular Sciences, The James Hutton Institute, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Amy Learmonth
- Division of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee at The James Hutton Institute, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Ali Saleh Hassan
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, SA, Australia
| | - Jelle Lahnstein
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, SA, Australia
| | - Mark Looseley
- Cell and Molecular Sciences, The James Hutton Institute, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Alan Little
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, SA, Australia
| | - Robbie Waugh
- Cell and Molecular Sciences, The James Hutton Institute, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Division of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee at The James Hutton Institute, Scotland, United Kingdom
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, SA, Australia
| | - Rachel A. Burton
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, SA, Australia
| | - Claire Halpin
- Division of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee at The James Hutton Institute, Scotland, United Kingdom
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9
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Chandrakanth NN, Zhang C, Freeman J, de Souza WR, Bartley LE, Mitchell RA. Modification of plant cell walls with hydroxycinnamic acids by BAHD acyltransferases. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 13:1088879. [PMID: 36733587 PMCID: PMC9887202 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1088879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
In the last decade it has become clear that enzymes in the "BAHD" family of acyl-CoA transferases play important roles in the addition of phenolic acids to form ester-linked moieties on cell wall polymers. We focus here on the addition of two such phenolics-the hydroxycinnamates, ferulate and p-coumarate-to two cell wall polymers, glucuronoarabinoxylan and to lignin. The resulting ester-linked feruloyl and p-coumaroyl moities are key features of the cell walls of grasses and other commelinid monocots. The capacity of ferulate to participate in radical oxidative coupling means that its addition to glucuronoarabinoxylan or to lignin has profound implications for the properties of the cell wall - allowing respectively oxidative crosslinking to glucuronoarabinoxylan chains or introducing ester bonds into lignin polymers. A subclade of ~10 BAHD genes in grasses is now known to (1) contain genes strongly implicated in addition of p-coumarate or ferulate to glucuronoarabinoxylan (2) encode enzymes that add p-coumarate or ferulate to lignin precursors. Here, we review the evidence for functions of these genes and the biotechnological applications of manipulating them, discuss our understanding of mechanisms involved, and highlight outstanding questions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chengcheng Zhang
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Jackie Freeman
- Plant Sciences, Rothamsted Research, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
| | | | - Laura E. Bartley
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States
| | - Rowan A.C. Mitchell
- Plant Sciences, Rothamsted Research, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
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10
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Möller SR, Lancefield CS, Oates NC, Simister R, Dowle A, Gomez LD, McQueen-Mason SJ. CRISPR/Cas9 suppression of OsAT10, a rice BAHD acyltransferase, reduces p-coumaric acid incorporation into arabinoxylan without increasing saccharification. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:926300. [PMID: 35937377 PMCID: PMC9355400 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.926300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Ester-linked hydroxycinnamic acids ferulic acid (FA) and para-coumaric acid (p-CA) play important roles in crosslinking within cell wall arabinoxylans (AX) and between AX and lignin in grass cell walls. The addition of hydroxycinnamates to AX, is mediated by the Mitchell clade of BAHD acyl-coenzyme A-utilizing transferases. Overexpression of OsAT10 (a Mitchell clade BAHD acyl transferase) in rice, has previously been shown to increase p-CA content in AX in leaves and stems, leading to increased cell wall digestibility, potentially associated with a concomitant decrease in FA content. To investigate the physiological role of OsAT10 we established CRISPR/Cas9 rice knock-out mutants devoid of OsAT10. Our analysis of hydroxycinnamic acid content in wild type plants revealed that AX associated p-CA is found almost exclusively in rice husks, with very little found in other tissues. Mutant plants were essentially devoid of ester-linked p-CA associated with AX, indicating that OsAT10 represents the major enzyme responsible for the addition of p-CA to arabinoxylan in rice plants. We found no change in the digestibility of rice husk lacking AX-associated p-CA, suggesting that the changes in digestibility seen in OsAT10 overexpressing plants were solely due to compensatory decreases in AX-associated FA.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christopher S. Lancefield
- School of Chemistry and Biomedical Science Research Complex, University of St. Andrews, St.Andrews, United Kingdom
| | - Nicola C. Oates
- CNAP, Biology Department, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Rachael Simister
- CNAP, Biology Department, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Adam Dowle
- Biology Department, Bioscience Technology Facility, University of York, York, United Kingdom
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11
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Muguerza MB, Gondo T, Ishigaki G, Shimamoto Y, Umami N, Nitthaisong P, Rahman MM, Akashi R. Tissue Culture and Somatic Embryogenesis in Warm-Season Grasses—Current Status and Its Applications: A Review. PLANTS 2022; 11:plants11091263. [PMID: 35567264 PMCID: PMC9101205 DOI: 10.3390/plants11091263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2022] [Revised: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Warm-season grasses are C4 plants and have a high capacity for biomass productivity. These grasses are utilized in many agricultural production systems with their greatest value as feeds for livestock, bioethanol, and turf. However, many important warm-season perennial grasses multiply either by vegetative propagation or form their seeds by an asexual mode of reproduction called apomixis. Therefore, the improvement of these grasses by conventional breeding is difficult and is dependent on the availability of natural genetic variation and its manipulation through breeding and selection. Recent studies have indicated that plant tissue culture system through somatic embryogenesis complements and could further develop conventional breeding programs by micropropagation, somaclonal variation, somatic hybridization, genetic transformation, and genome editing. This review summarizes the tissue culture and somatic embryogenesis in warm-season grasses and focus on current status and above applications including the author’s progress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melody Ballitoc Muguerza
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuenkibanadai-Nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan; (M.B.M.); (G.I.); (Y.S.); (R.A.)
| | - Takahiro Gondo
- Frontier Science Research Center, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuenkibanadai-Nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan
- Correspondence:
| | - Genki Ishigaki
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuenkibanadai-Nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan; (M.B.M.); (G.I.); (Y.S.); (R.A.)
| | - Yasuyo Shimamoto
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuenkibanadai-Nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan; (M.B.M.); (G.I.); (Y.S.); (R.A.)
| | - Nafiatul Umami
- Faculty of Animal Science, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl Fauna 3, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia;
| | - Pattama Nitthaisong
- Faculty of Agricultural Technology, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand;
| | - Mohammad Mijanur Rahman
- Faculty of Agro-Based Industry, Jeli Campus, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli 17600, Kelantan, Malaysia;
| | - Ryo Akashi
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuenkibanadai-Nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan; (M.B.M.); (G.I.); (Y.S.); (R.A.)
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12
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Joshi A, Verma KK, D Rajput V, Minkina T, Arora J. Recent advances in metabolic engineering of microorganisms for advancing lignocellulose-derived biofuels. Bioengineered 2022; 13:8135-8163. [PMID: 35297313 PMCID: PMC9161965 DOI: 10.1080/21655979.2022.2051856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Combating climate change and ensuring energy supply to a rapidly growing global population has highlighted the need to replace petroleum fuels with clean, and sustainable renewable fuels. Biofuels offer a solution to safeguard energy security with reduced ecological footprint and process economics. Over the past years, lignocellulosic biomass has become the most preferred raw material for the production of biofuels, such as fuel, alcohol, biodiesel, and biohydrogen. However, the cost-effective conversion of lignocellulose into biofuels remains an unsolved challenge at the industrial scale. Recently, intensive efforts have been made in lignocellulose feedstock and microbial engineering to address this problem. By improving the biological pathways leading to the polysaccharide, lignin, and lipid biosynthesis, limited success has been achieved, and still needs to improve sustainable biofuel production. Impressive success is being achieved by the retouring metabolic pathways of different microbial hosts. Several robust phenotypes, mostly from bacteria and yeast domains, have been successfully constructed with improved substrate spectrum, product yield and sturdiness against hydrolysate toxins. Cyanobacteria is also being explored for metabolic advancement in recent years, however, it also remained underdeveloped to generate commercialized biofuels. The bacterium Escherichia coli and yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains are also being engineered to have cell surfaces displaying hydrolytic enzymes, which holds much promise for near-term scale-up and biorefinery use. Looking forward, future advances to achieve economically feasible production of lignocellulosic-based biofuels with special focus on designing more efficient metabolic pathways coupled with screening, and engineering of novel enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhishek Joshi
- Laboratory of Biomolecular Technology, Department of Botany, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur313001, India
| | - Krishan K. Verma
- Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biotechnology and Genetic Improvement (Guangxi), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs/Guangxi Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Genetic improvement/Sugarcane Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning - 530007, China
| | - Vishnu D Rajput
- Academy of Biology and Biotechnology, Southern Federal University, 344090, Russia
| | - Tatiana Minkina
- Academy of Biology and Biotechnology, Southern Federal University, 344090, Russia
| | - Jaya Arora
- Laboratory of Biomolecular Technology, Department of Botany, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur313001, India
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13
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Yuan Z, Yang H, Pan L, Zhao W, Liang L, Gatera A, Tucker MR, Xu D. Systematic identification and expression profiles of the BAHD superfamily acyltransferases in barley (Hordeum vulgare). Sci Rep 2022; 12:5063. [PMID: 35332203 PMCID: PMC8948222 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08983-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
BAHD superfamily acyltransferases play an important role in catalyzing and regulating secondary metabolism in plants. Despite this, there is relatively little information regarding the BAHD superfamily in barley. In this study, we identified 116 HvBAHD acyltransferases from the barley genome. Based on phylogenetic analysis and classification in model monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants, we divided the genes into eight groups, I-a, I-b, II, III-a, III-b, IV, V-a and V-b. The Clade IV genes, including Agmatine Coumarol Transferase (ACT) that is associated with resistance of plants to Gibberella fungi, were absent in Arabidopsis. Cis-regulatory element analysis of the HvBAHDs showed that the genes respond positively to GA3 treatment. In-silico expression and qPCR analysis showed the HvBAHD genes are expressed in a range of tissues and developmental stages, and highly enriched in the seedling stage, consistent with diverse roles. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) scanning analysis revealed that the natural variation in the coding regions of the HvBAHDs is low and the sequences have been conserved during barley domestication. Our results reveal the complexity of the HvBAHDs and will help facilitate their analysis in further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Yuan
- School of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China
| | - Hongliang Yang
- School of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China
| | - Leiwen Pan
- School of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China
| | - Wenhui Zhao
- School of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China
| | - Lunping Liang
- School of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China
| | - Anicet Gatera
- School of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China
| | - Matthew R Tucker
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5064, Australia
| | - Dawei Xu
- School of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
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14
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Tian Y, Lin CY, Park JH, Wu CY, Kakumanu R, Pidatala VR, Vuu KM, Rodriguez A, Shih PM, Baidoo EEK, Temple S, Simmons BA, Gladden JM, Scheller HV, Eudes A. Overexpression of the rice BAHD acyltransferase AT10 increases xylan-bound p-coumarate and reduces lignin in Sorghum bicolor. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2021; 14:217. [PMID: 34801067 PMCID: PMC8606057 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-021-02068-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/06/2021] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The development of bioenergy crops with reduced recalcitrance to enzymatic degradation represents an important challenge to enable the sustainable production of advanced biofuels and bioproducts. Biomass recalcitrance is partly attributed to the complex structure of plant cell walls inside which cellulose microfibrils are protected by a network of hemicellulosic xylan chains that crosslink with each other or with lignin via ferulate (FA) bridges. Overexpression of the rice acyltransferase OsAT10 is an effective bioengineering strategy to lower the amount of FA involved in the formation of cell wall crosslinks and thereby reduce cell wall recalcitrance. The annual crop sorghum represents an attractive feedstock for bioenergy purposes considering its high biomass yields and low input requirements. Although we previously validated the OsAT10 engineering approach in the perennial bioenergy crop switchgrass, the effect of OsAT10 expression on biomass composition and digestibility in sorghum remains to be explored. RESULTS We obtained eight independent sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) transgenic lines with a single copy of a construct designed for OsAT10 expression. Consistent with the proposed role of OsAT10 in acylating arabinosyl residues on xylan with p-coumarate (pCA), a higher amount of p-coumaroyl-arabinose was released from the cell walls of these lines upon hydrolysis with trifluoroacetic acid. However, no major changes were observed regarding the total amount of pCA or FA esters released from cell walls upon mild alkaline hydrolysis. Certain diferulate (diFA) isomers identified in alkaline hydrolysates were increased in some transgenic lines. The amount of the main cell wall monosaccharides glucose, xylose, and arabinose was unaffected. The transgenic lines showed reduced lignin content and their biomass released higher yields of sugars after ionic liquid pretreatment followed by enzymatic saccharification. CONCLUSIONS Expression of OsAT10 in sorghum leads to an increase of xylan-bound pCA without reducing the overall content of cell wall FA esters. Nevertheless, the amount of total cell wall pCA remains unchanged indicating that most pCA is ester-linked to lignin. Unlike other engineered plants overexpressing OsAT10 or a phylogenetically related acyltransferase with similar putative function, the improvements of biomass saccharification efficiency in sorghum OsAT10 lines are likely the result of lignin reductions rather than reductions of cell wall-bound FA. These results also suggest a relationship between xylan-bound pCA and lignification in cell walls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Tian
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Chien-Yuan Lin
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | | | - Chuan-Yin Wu
- Forage Genetics International, West Salem, WI 54669 USA
| | - Ramu Kakumanu
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Venkataramana R. Pidatala
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Khanh M. Vuu
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Alberto Rodriguez
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Department of Biomaterials and Biomanufacturing, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94551 USA
| | - Patrick M. Shih
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Edward E. K. Baidoo
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | | | - Blake A. Simmons
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - John M. Gladden
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Department of Biomaterials and Biomanufacturing, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94551 USA
| | - Henrik V. Scheller
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Aymerick Eudes
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
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15
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Abdullah, Faraji S, Heidari P, Poczai P. The BAHD Gene Family in Cacao (Theobroma cacao, Malvaceae): Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.707708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The benzyl alcohol O-acetyl transferase, anthocyanin O-hydroxycinnamoyl transferase, N-hydroxycinnamoyl anthranilate benzoyl transferase, and deacetylvindoline 4-O-acetyltransferase (BAHD) enzymes play a critical role in regulating plant metabolites and affecting cell stability. In the present study, members of the BAHD gene family were recognized in the genome of Theobroma cacao and characterized using various bioinformatics tools. We found 27 non-redundant putative tcBAHD genes in cacao for the first time. Our findings indicate that tcBAHD genes are diverse based on sequence structure, physiochemical properties, and function. When analyzed with BAHDs of Gossypium raimondii and Corchorus capsularis clustered into four main groups. According to phylogenetic analysis, BAHD genes probably evolved drastically after their divergence. The divergence time of duplication events with purifying selection pressure was predicted to range from 1.82 to 15.50 MYA. Pocket analysis revealed that serine amino acid is more common in the binding site than other residuals, reflecting its key role in regulating the activity of tcBAHDs. Furthermore, cis-acting elements related to the responsiveness of stress and hormone, particularly ABA and MeJA, were frequently observed in the promoter region of tcBAHD genes. RNA-seq analysis further illustrated that tcBAHD13 and tcBAHD26 are involved in response to Phytophthora megakarya fungi. In conclusion, it is likely that evolutionary processes, such as duplication events, have caused high diversity in the structure and function of tcBAHD genes.
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16
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Saha P, Lin F, Thibivilliers S, Xiong Y, Pan C, Bartley LE. Phenylpropanoid Biosynthesis Gene Expression Precedes Lignin Accumulation During Shoot Development in Lowland and Upland Switchgrass Genotypes. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:640930. [PMID: 34434200 PMCID: PMC8380989 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.640930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Efficient conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels is influenced by biomass composition and structure. Lignin and other cell wall phenylpropanoids, such as para-coumaric acid (pCA) and ferulic acid (FA), reduce cell wall sugar accessibility and hamper biochemical fuel production. Toward identifying the timing and key parameters of cell wall recalcitrance across different switchgrass genotypes, this study measured cell wall composition and lignin biosynthesis gene expression in three switchgrass genotypes, A4 and AP13, representing the lowland ecotype, and VS16, representing the upland ecotype, at three developmental stages [Vegetative 3 (V3), Elongation 4 (E4), and Reproductive 3 (R3)] and three segments (S1-S3) of the E4 stage under greenhouse conditions. A decrease in cell wall digestibility and an increase in phenylpropanoids occur across development. Compared with AP13 and A4, VS16 has significantly less lignin and greater cell wall digestibility at the V3 and E4 stages; however, differences among genotypes diminish by the R3 stage. Gini correlation analysis across all genotypes revealed that lignin and pCA, but also pectin monosaccharide components, show the greatest negative correlations with digestibility. Lignin and pCA accumulation is delayed compared with expression of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis genes, while FA accumulation coincides with expression of these genes. The different cell wall component accumulation profiles and gene expression correlations may have implications for system biology approaches to identify additional gene products with cell wall component synthesis and regulation functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prasenjit Saha
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Fan Lin
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Sandra Thibivilliers
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Yi Xiong
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Chongle Pan
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
- School of Computer Science, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Laura E. Bartley
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
- Research Institute for the Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States
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17
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de Vries L, Guevara-Rozo S, Cho M, Liu LY, Renneckar S, Mansfield SD. Tailoring renewable materials via plant biotechnology. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2021; 14:167. [PMID: 34353358 PMCID: PMC8344217 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-021-02010-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/06/2021] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Plants inherently display a rich diversity in cell wall chemistry, as they synthesize an array of polysaccharides along with lignin, a polyphenolic that can vary dramatically in subunit composition and interunit linkage complexity. These same cell wall chemical constituents play essential roles in our society, having been isolated by a variety of evolving industrial processes and employed in the production of an array of commodity products to which humans are reliant. However, these polymers are inherently synthesized and intricately packaged into complex structures that facilitate plant survival and adaptation to local biogeoclimatic regions and stresses, not for ease of deconstruction and commercial product development. Herein, we describe evolving techniques and strategies for altering the metabolic pathways related to plant cell wall biosynthesis, and highlight the resulting impact on chemistry, architecture, and polymer interactions. Furthermore, this review illustrates how these unique targeted cell wall modifications could significantly extend the number, diversity, and value of products generated in existing and emerging biorefineries. These modifications can further target the ability for processing of engineered wood into advanced high performance materials. In doing so, we attempt to illuminate the complex connection on how polymer chemistry and structure can be tailored to advance renewable material applications, using all the chemical constituents of plant-derived biopolymers, including pectins, hemicelluloses, cellulose, and lignins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisanne de Vries
- Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
- US Department of Energy (DOE) Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, the Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI , 53726, USA
| | - Sydne Guevara-Rozo
- Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - MiJung Cho
- Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Li-Yang Liu
- Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Scott Renneckar
- Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Shawn D Mansfield
- Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
- US Department of Energy (DOE) Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, the Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI , 53726, USA.
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18
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Sørensen M, Møller BL. Metabolic Engineering of Photosynthetic Cells – in Collaboration with Nature. Metab Eng 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/9783527823468.ch21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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19
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Fanelli A, Rancour DM, Sullivan M, Karlen SD, Ralph J, Riaño-Pachón DM, Vicentini R, Silva TDF, Ferraz A, Hatfield RD, Romanel E. Overexpression of a Sugarcane BAHD Acyltransferase Alters Hydroxycinnamate Content in Maize Cell Wall. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:626168. [PMID: 33995431 PMCID: PMC8117936 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.626168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The purification of hydroxycinnamic acids [p-coumaric acid (pCA) and ferulic acid (FA)] from grass cell walls requires high-cost processes. Feedstocks with increased levels of one hydroxycinnamate in preference to the other are therefore highly desirable. We identified and conducted expression analysis for nine BAHD acyltransferase ScAts genes from sugarcane. The high conservation of AT10 proteins, together with their similar gene expression patterns, supported a similar role in distinct grasses. Overexpression of ScAT10 in maize resulted in up to 75% increase in total pCA content. Mild hydrolysis and derivatization followed by reductive cleavage (DFRC) analysis showed that pCA increase was restricted to the hemicellulosic portion of the cell wall. Furthermore, total FA content was reduced up to 88%, resulting in a 10-fold increase in the pCA/FA ratio. Thus, we functionally characterized a sugarcane gene involved in pCA content on hemicelluloses and generated a C4 plant that is promising for valorizing pCA production in biorefineries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Fanelli
- Laboratório de Genômica de Plantas e Bioenergia (PGEMBL), Departamento de Biotecnologia, Escola de Engenharia de Lorena, Universidade de São Paulo, Lorena, Brazil
| | | | - Michael Sullivan
- U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Steven D. Karlen
- Department of Biochemistry, and The Department of Energy’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, The Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
| | - John Ralph
- Department of Biochemistry, and The Department of Energy’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, The Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Diego Mauricio Riaño-Pachón
- Laboratório de Biologia Computacional, Evolutiva e de Sistemas, Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil
| | - Renato Vicentini
- Departamento de Genética e Evolução, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Tatiane da Franca Silva
- Laboratório de Genômica de Plantas e Bioenergia (PGEMBL), Departamento de Biotecnologia, Escola de Engenharia de Lorena, Universidade de São Paulo, Lorena, Brazil
| | - André Ferraz
- Laboratório de Ciências da Madeira, Departamento de Biotecnologia, Escola de Engenharia de Lorena, Universidade de São Paulo, Lorena, Brazil
| | - Ronald D. Hatfield
- U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Elisson Romanel
- Laboratório de Genômica de Plantas e Bioenergia (PGEMBL), Departamento de Biotecnologia, Escola de Engenharia de Lorena, Universidade de São Paulo, Lorena, Brazil
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20
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Lin CY, Donohoe BS, Bomble YJ, Yang H, Yunes M, Sarai NS, Shollenberger T, Decker SR, Chen X, McCann MC, Tucker MP, Wei H, Himmel ME. Iron incorporation both intra- and extra-cellularly improves the yield and saccharification of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) biomass. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2021; 14:55. [PMID: 33663584 PMCID: PMC7931346 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-021-01891-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2020] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pretreatments are commonly used to facilitate the deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass to its component sugars and aromatics. Previously, we showed that iron ions can be used as co-catalysts to reduce the severity of dilute acid pretreatment of biomass. Transgenic iron-accumulating Arabidopsis and rice plants exhibited higher iron content in grains, increased biomass yield, and importantly, enhanced sugar release from the biomass. RESULTS In this study, we used intracellular ferritin (FerIN) alone and in combination with an improved version of cell wall-bound carbohydrate-binding module fused iron-binding peptide (IBPex) specifically targeting switchgrass, a bioenergy crop species. The FerIN switchgrass improved by 15% in height and 65% in yield, whereas the FerIN/IBPex transgenics showed enhancement up to 30% in height and 115% in yield. The FerIN and FerIN/IBPex switchgrass had 27% and 51% higher in planta iron accumulation than the empty vector (EV) control, respectively, under normal growth conditions. Improved pretreatability was observed in FerIN switchgrass (~ 14% more glucose release than the EV), and the FerIN/IBPex plants showed further enhancement in glucose release up to 24%. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that this iron-accumulating strategy can be transferred from model plants and applied to bioenergy crops, such as switchgrass. The intra- and extra-cellular iron incorporation approach improves biomass pretreatability and digestibility, providing upgraded feedstocks for the production of biofuels and bioproducts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chien-Yuan Lin
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
- Present Address: Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Present Address: Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Bryon S. Donohoe
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
| | - Yannick J. Bomble
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
| | - Haibing Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA
- Present Address: South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650 China
| | - Manal Yunes
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
- Present Address: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
| | - Nicholas S. Sarai
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
- Present Address: Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 210-41, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA
| | - Todd Shollenberger
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
| | - Stephen R. Decker
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
| | - Xiaowen Chen
- National Bioenergy Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
| | - Maureen C. McCann
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA
| | - Melvin P. Tucker
- National Bioenergy Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
| | - Hui Wei
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
| | - Michael E. Himmel
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401 USA
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21
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Hao Z, Yogiswara S, Wei T, Benites VT, Sinha A, Wang G, Baidoo EEK, Ronald PC, Scheller HV, Loqué D, Eudes A. Expression of a bacterial 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase (QsuB) reduces lignin and improves biomass saccharification efficiency in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.). BMC PLANT BIOLOGY 2021; 21:56. [PMID: 33478381 PMCID: PMC7819203 DOI: 10.1186/s12870-021-02842-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lignin deposited in plant cell walls negatively affects biomass conversion into advanced bioproducts. There is therefore a strong interest in developing bioenergy crops with reduced lignin content or altered lignin structures. Another desired trait for bioenergy crops is the ability to accumulate novel bioproducts, which would enhance the development of economically sustainable biorefineries. As previously demonstrated in the model plant Arabidopsis, expression of a 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase in plants offers the potential for decreasing lignin content and overproducing a value-added metabolic coproduct (i.e., protocatechuate) suitable for biological upgrading. RESULTS The 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase QsuB from Corynebacterium glutamicum was expressed in the bioenergy crop switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) using the stem-specific promoter of an O-methyltransferase gene (pShOMT) from sugarcane. The activity of pShOMT was validated in switchgrass after observation in-situ of beta-glucuronidase (GUS) activity in stem nodes of plants carrying a pShOMT::GUS fusion construct. Under controlled growth conditions, engineered switchgrass lines containing a pShOMT::QsuB construct showed reductions of lignin content, improvements of biomass saccharification efficiency, and accumulated higher amount of protocatechuate compared to control plants. Attempts to generate transgenic switchgrass lines carrying the QsuB gene under the control of the constitutive promoter pZmUbi-1 were unsuccessful, suggesting possible toxicity issues associated with ectopic QsuB expression during the plant regeneration process. CONCLUSION This study validates the transfer of the QsuB engineering approach from a model plant to switchgrass. We have demonstrated altered expression of two important traits: lignin content and accumulation of a co-product. We found that the choice of promoter to drive QsuB expression should be carefully considered when deploying this strategy to other bioenergy crops. Field-testing of engineered QsuB switchgrass are in progress to assess the performance of the introduced traits and agronomic performances of the transgenic plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhangying Hao
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Sasha Yogiswara
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Tong Wei
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
- Present address: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518000 China
| | - Veronica Teixeira Benites
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Anagh Sinha
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - George Wang
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Edward E. K. Baidoo
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Pamela C. Ronald
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
| | - Henrik V. Scheller
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Dominique Loqué
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Aymerick Eudes
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
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22
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Mota TR, de Souza WR, Oliveira DM, Martins PK, Sampaio BL, Vinecky F, Ribeiro AP, Duarte KE, Pacheco TF, Monteiro NDKV, Campanha RB, Marchiosi R, Vieira DS, Kobayashi AK, Molinari PADO, Ferrarese-Filho O, Mitchell RAC, Molinari HBC, Dos Santos WD. Suppression of a BAHD acyltransferase decreases p-coumaroyl on arabinoxylan and improves biomass digestibility in the model grass Setaria viridis. THE PLANT JOURNAL : FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2021; 105:136-150. [PMID: 33111398 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Revised: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Grass cell walls have hydroxycinnamic acids attached to arabinosyl residues of arabinoxylan (AX), and certain BAHD acyltransferases are involved in their addition. In this study, we characterized one of these BAHD genes in the cell wall of the model grass Setaria viridis. RNAi silenced lines of S. viridis (SvBAHD05) presented a decrease of up to 42% of ester-linked p-coumarate (pCA) and 50% of pCA-arabinofuranosyl, across three generations. Biomass from SvBAHD05 silenced plants exhibited up to 32% increase in biomass saccharification after acid pre-treatment, with no change in total lignin. Molecular dynamics simulations suggested that SvBAHD05 is a p-coumaroyl coenzyme A transferase (PAT) mainly involved in the addition of pCA to the arabinofuranosyl residues of AX in Setaria. Thus, our results provide evidence of p-coumaroylation of AX promoted by SvBAHD05 acyltransferase in the cell wall of the model grass S. viridis. Furthermore, SvBAHD05 is a promising biotechnological target to engineer crops for improved biomass digestibility for biofuels, biorefineries and animal feeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thatiane R Mota
- Department of Biochemistry, State University of Maringá, Maringá, PR, 87020-900, Brazil
| | - Wagner R de Souza
- Embrapa Agroenergy, Brasília, DF, 70770-901, Brazil
- Center for Natural and Human Sciences, Federal University of ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, 09606-045, Brazil
| | - Dyoni M Oliveira
- Department of Biochemistry, State University of Maringá, Maringá, PR, 87020-900, Brazil
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Norberto de K V Monteiro
- Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, 59078-970, Brazil
- Department of Analytical and Physical Chemistry, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, 60455-760, Brazil
| | | | - Rogério Marchiosi
- Department of Biochemistry, State University of Maringá, Maringá, PR, 87020-900, Brazil
| | - Davi S Vieira
- Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, 59078-970, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Rowan A C Mitchell
- Plant Sciences, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK
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Eugene A, Lapierre C, Ralph J. Improved analysis of arabinoxylan-bound hydroxycinnamate conjugates in grass cell walls. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2020; 13:202. [PMID: 33303001 PMCID: PMC7731738 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-020-01841-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 11/24/2020] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Arabinoxylan in grass cell walls is acylated to varying extents by ferulate and p-coumarate at the 5-hydroxy position of arabinosyl residues branching off the xylan backbone. Some of these hydroxycinnamate units may then become involved in cell wall radical coupling reactions, resulting in ether and other linkages amongst themselves or to monolignols or oligolignols, thereby crosslinking arabinoxylan chains with each other and/or with lignin polymers. This crosslinking is assumed to increase the strength of the cell wall, and impedes the utilization of grass biomass in natural and industrial processes. A method for quantifying the degree of acylation in various grass tissues is, therefore, essential. We sought to reduce the incidence of hydroxycinnamate ester hydrolysis in our recently introduced method by utilizing more anhydrous conditions. RESULTS The improved methanolysis method minimizes the undesirable ester-cleavage of arabinose from ferulate and p-coumarate esters, and from diferulate dehydrodimers, and produces more methanolysis vs. hydrolysis of xylan-arabinosides, improving the yields of the desired feruloylated and p-coumaroylated methyl arabinosides and their diferulate analogs. Free ferulate and p-coumarate produced by ester-cleavage were reduced by 78% and 68%, respectively, and 21% and 39% more feruloyl and p-coumaroyl methyl arabinosides were detected in the more anhydrous method. The new protocol resulted in an estimated 56% less combined diferulate isomers in which only one acylated arabinosyl unit remained, and 170% more combined diferulate isomers conjugated to two arabinosyl units. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the new protocol for mild acidolysis of grass cell walls is both recovering more ferulate- and p-coumarate-arabinose conjugates from the arabinoxylan and cleaving less of them down to free ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, and dehydrodiferulates with just one arabinosyl ester. This cleaner method, especially when coupled with the orthogonal method for measuring monolignol hydroxycinnamate conjugates that have been incorporated into lignin, provides an enhanced tool to measure the extent of crosslinking in grass arabinoxylan chains, assisting in identification of useful grasses for biomass applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis Eugene
- Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Catherine Lapierre
- Institute Jean-Pierre Bourgin, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Versailles, France
| | - John Ralph
- Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
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24
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Karlen SD, Fasahati P, Mazaheri M, Serate J, Smith RA, Sirobhushanam S, Chen M, Tymokhin VI, Cass CL, Liu S, Padmakshan D, Xie D, Zhang Y, McGee MA, Russell JD, Coon JJ, Kaeppler HF, de Leon N, Maravelias CT, Runge TM, Kaeppler SM, Sedbrook JC, Ralph J. Assessing the Viability of Recovery of Hydroxycinnamic Acids from Lignocellulosic Biorefinery Alkaline Pretreatment Waste Streams. CHEMSUSCHEM 2020; 13:2012-2024. [PMID: 31984673 PMCID: PMC7217007 DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201903345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The hydroxycinnamic acids p-coumaric acid (pCA) and ferulic acid (FA) add diversity to the portfolio of products produced by using grass-fed lignocellulosic biorefineries. The level of lignin-bound pCA in Zea mays was modified by the alteration of p-coumaroyl-CoA monolignol transferase expression. The biomass was processed in a lab-scale alkaline-pretreatment biorefinery process and the data were used for a baseline technoeconomic analysis to determine where to direct future research efforts to couple plant design to biomass utilization processes. It is concluded that future plant engineering efforts should focus on strategies that ramp up accumulation of one type of hydroxycinnamate (pCA or FA) predominantly and suppress that of the other. Technoeconomic analysis indicates that target extraction titers of one hydroxycinnamic acid need to be >50 g kg-1 biomass, at least five times higher than observed titers for the impure pCA/FA product mixture from wild-type maize. The technical challenge for process engineers is to develop a viable process that requires more than 80 % reduction of the isolation costs.
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25
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Lin CY, Eudes A. Strategies for the production of biochemicals in bioenergy crops. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2020; 13:71. [PMID: 32318116 PMCID: PMC7158082 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-020-01707-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Industrial crops are grown to produce goods for manufacturing. Rather than food and feed, they supply raw materials for making biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and specialty chemicals, as well as feedstocks for fabricating fiber, biopolymer, and construction materials. Therefore, such crops offer the potential to reduce our dependency on petrochemicals that currently serve as building blocks for manufacturing the majority of our industrial and consumer products. In this review, we are providing examples of metabolites synthesized in plants that can be used as bio-based platform chemicals for partial replacement of their petroleum-derived counterparts. Plant metabolic engineering approaches aiming at increasing the content of these metabolites in biomass are presented. In particular, we emphasize on recent advances in the manipulation of the shikimate and isoprenoid biosynthetic pathways, both of which being the source of multiple valuable compounds. Implementing and optimizing engineered metabolic pathways for accumulation of coproducts in bioenergy crops may represent a valuable option for enhancing the commercial value of biomass and attaining sustainable lignocellulosic biorefineries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chien-Yuan Lin
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Aymerick Eudes
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
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26
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Brandon AG, Scheller HV. Engineering of Bioenergy Crops: Dominant Genetic Approaches to Improve Polysaccharide Properties and Composition in Biomass. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 11:282. [PMID: 32218797 PMCID: PMC7078332 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2019] [Accepted: 02/25/2020] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Large-scale, sustainable production of lignocellulosic bioenergy from biomass will depend on a variety of dedicated bioenergy crops. Despite their great genetic diversity, prospective bioenergy crops share many similarities in the polysaccharide composition of their cell walls, and the changes needed to optimize them for conversion are largely universal. Therefore, biomass modification strategies that do not depend on genetic background or require mutant varieties are extremely valuable. Due to their preferential fermentation and conversion by microorganisms downstream, the ideal bioenergy crop should contain a high proportion of C6-sugars in polysaccharides like cellulose, callose, galactan, and mixed-linkage glucans. In addition, the biomass should be reduced in inhibitors of fermentation like pentoses and acetate. Finally, the overall complexity of the plant cell wall should be modified to reduce its recalcitrance to enzymatic deconstruction in ways that do no compromise plant health or come at a yield penalty. This review will focus on progress in the use of a variety of genetically dominant strategies to reach these ideals. Due to the breadth and volume of research in the field of lignin bioengineering, this review will instead focus on approaches to improve polysaccharide component plant biomass. Carbohydrate content can be dramatically increased by transgenic overexpression of enzymes involved in cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis. Additionally, the recalcitrance of the cell wall can be reduced via the overexpression of native or non-native carbohydrate active enzymes like glycosyl hydrolases or carbohydrate esterases. Some research in this area has focused on engineering plants that accumulate cell wall-degrading enzymes that are sequestered to organelles or only active at very high temperatures. The rationale being that, in order to avoid potential negative effects of cell wall modification during plant growth, the enzymes could be activated post-harvest, and post-maturation of the cell wall. A potentially significant limitation of this approach is that at harvest, the cell wall is heavily lignified, making the substrates for these enzymes inaccessible and their activity ineffective. Therefore, this review will only include research employing enzymes that are at least partially active under the ambient conditions of plant growth and cell wall development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew G. Brandon
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Henrik V. Scheller
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
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27
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Mnich E, Bjarnholt N, Eudes A, Harholt J, Holland C, Jørgensen B, Larsen FH, Liu M, Manat R, Meyer AS, Mikkelsen JD, Motawia MS, Muschiol J, Møller BL, Møller SR, Perzon A, Petersen BL, Ravn JL, Ulvskov P. Phenolic cross-links: building and de-constructing the plant cell wall. Nat Prod Rep 2020; 37:919-961. [PMID: 31971193 DOI: 10.1039/c9np00028c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Covering: Up to 2019Phenolic cross-links and phenolic inter-unit linkages result from the oxidative coupling of two hydroxycinnamates or two molecules of tyrosine. Free dimers of hydroxycinnamates, lignans, play important roles in plant defence. Cross-linking of bound phenolics in the plant cell wall affects cell expansion, wall strength, digestibility, degradability, and pathogen resistance. Cross-links mediated by phenolic substituents are particularly important as they confer strength to the wall via the formation of new covalent bonds, and by excluding water from it. Four biopolymer classes are known to be involved in the formation of phenolic cross-links: lignins, extensins, glucuronoarabinoxylans, and side-chains of rhamnogalacturonan-I. Lignins and extensins are ubiquitous in streptophytes whereas aromatic substituents on xylan and pectic side-chains are commonly assumed to be particular features of Poales sensu lato and core Caryophyllales, respectively. Cross-linking of phenolic moieties proceeds via radical formation, is catalyzed by peroxidases and laccases, and involves monolignols, tyrosine in extensins, and ferulate esters on xylan and pectin. Ferulate substituents, on xylan in particular, are thought to be nucleation points for lignin polymerization and are, therefore, of paramount importance to wall architecture in grasses and for the development of technology for wall disassembly, e.g. for the use of grass biomass for production of 2nd generation biofuels. This review summarizes current knowledge on the intra- and extracellular acylation of polysaccharides, and inter- and intra-molecular cross-linking of different constituents. Enzyme mediated lignan in vitro synthesis for pharmaceutical uses are covered as are industrial exploitation of mutant and transgenic approaches to control cell wall cross-linking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewelina Mnich
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
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28
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Herbert RA, Eng T, Martinez U, Wang B, Langley S, Wan K, Pidatala V, Hoffman E, Chen JC, Bissell MJ, Brown JB, Mukhopadhyay A, Mortimer JC. Rhizobacteria Mediate the Phytotoxicity of a Range of Biorefinery-Relevant Compounds. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2019; 38:1911-1922. [PMID: 31107972 PMCID: PMC6711798 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2019] [Revised: 04/10/2019] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Advances in engineering biology have expanded the list of renewable compounds that can be produced at scale via biological routes from plant biomass. In most cases, these chemical products have not been evaluated for effects on biological systems, defined in the present study as bioactivity, that may be relevant to their manufacture. For sustainable chemical and fuel production, the industry needs to transition from fossil to renewable carbon sources, resulting in unprecedented expansion in the production and environmental distribution of chemicals used in biomanufacturing. Further, although some chemicals have been assessed for mammalian toxicity, environmental and agricultural hazards are largely unknown. We assessed 6 compounds that are representative of the emerging biofuel and bioproduct manufacturing process for their effect on model plants (Arabidopsis thaliana, Sorghum bicolor) and show that several alter plant seedling physiology at submillimolar concentrations. However, these responses change in the presence of individual bacterial species from the A. thaliana root microbiome. We identified 2 individual microbes that change the effect of chemical treatment on root architecture and a pooled microbial community with different effects relative to its constituents individually. The present study indicates that screening industrial chemicals for bioactivity on model organisms in the presence of their microbiomes is important for biologically and ecologically relevant risk analyses. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:1911-1922. © 2019 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin A. Herbert
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, EmeryvilleCaliforniaUSA
| | - Thomas Eng
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, EmeryvilleCaliforniaUSA
| | - Uriel Martinez
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
- College of Science and EngineeringSan Francisco State University, San FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
| | - Brenda Wang
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Sasha Langley
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Kenneth Wan
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Venkataramana Pidatala
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, EmeryvilleCaliforniaUSA
| | - Elijah Hoffman
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Joseph C. Chen
- College of Science and EngineeringSan Francisco State University, San FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
| | - Mina J. Bissell
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - James B. Brown
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
- Environmental Genomics and System Biology DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Aindrila Mukhopadhyay
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, EmeryvilleCaliforniaUSA
- Environmental Genomics and System Biology DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Jenny C. Mortimer
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, EmeryvilleCaliforniaUSA
- Environmental Genomics and System Biology DivisionBiosciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
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29
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Jiang L, Li G, Chern M, Jain R, Pham NT, Martin JA, Schackwitz WS, Zhao J, Ruan D, Huang R, Zheng J, Ronald PC. Whole-Genome Sequencing Identifies a Rice Grain Shape Mutant, gs9-1. RICE (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2019; 12:52. [PMID: 31321562 PMCID: PMC6639446 DOI: 10.1186/s12284-019-0308-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2019] [Accepted: 06/27/2019] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Breeding for genes controlling key agronomic traits is an important goal of rice genetic improvement. To gain insight into genes controlling grain morphology, we screened M3 plants derived from 1,000 whole-genome sequenced (WGS) M2 Kitaake mutants to identify lines with altered grain size. RESULTS In this study, we isolated a mutant, named fast-neutron (FN) 60-4, which exhibits a significant reduction in grain size. We crossed FN60-4 with the parental line Kitaake and analyzed the resulting backcross population. Segregation analysis of 113 lines from the BC2F2 population revealed that the mutant phenotype is controlled by a single semi-dominant locus. Mutant FN60-4 is reduced 20% in plant height and 8.8% in 1000-grain weight compared with Kitaake. FN60-4 also exhibits an 8% reduction in cell number and a 9% reduction in cell length along the vertical axis of the glume. We carried out whole-genome sequencing of DNA pools extracted from segregants with long grains or short grains, and revealed that one gene, LOC_Os09g02650, cosegregated with the grain size phenotype in the BC1F2 and BC2F2 populations. This mutant allele was named grain shape 9-1 (gs9-1). gs9-1 carries a 3-bp deletion that affects two amino acids. This locus is a new allele of the BC12/GDD1/MTD1 gene that encodes a kinesin-like protein involved in cell-cycle progression, cellulose microfibril deposition and gibberellic acid (GA) biosynthesis. The GA biosynthesis-related gene KO2 is down-regulated in gs9-1. The dwarf phenotype of gs9-1 can be rescued by adding exogenous GA3. In contrast to the phenotypes for the other alleles, the gs9-1 is less severe, consistent with the nature of the mutation, which does not disrupt the open reading frame as observed for the other alleles. CONCLUSIONS In this study, we isolated a mutant, which exhibits altered grain shape and identified the mutated gene, gs9-1. Our study reveals that gs9-1 is a semi-dominant gene that carries a two-amino acid mutation. gs9-1 is allelic to the BC12/GDD1/MTD1 gene involved in GA biosynthesis. These results demonstrate the efficiency and convenience of cloning genes from the whole-genome sequenced Kitaake mutant population to advance investigations into genes controlling key agronomic traits in rice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liangrong Jiang
- Xiamen Plant Genetics Key Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102 People’s Republic of China
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Guotian Li
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology and College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070 Hubei China
| | - Mawsheng Chern
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Rashmi Jain
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Nhan T. Pham
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Joel A. Martin
- U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Wendy S. Schackwitz
- U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Juan Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology and College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070 Hubei China
| | - Deling Ruan
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Rongyu Huang
- Xiamen Plant Genetics Key Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102 People’s Republic of China
| | - Jingsheng Zheng
- Xiamen Plant Genetics Key Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102 People’s Republic of China
| | - Pamela C. Ronald
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
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