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de Freitas EN, Salgado JCS, Alnoch RC, Contato AG, Habermann E, Michelin M, Martínez CA, Polizeli MDLTM. Challenges of Biomass Utilization for Bioenergy in a Climate Change Scenario. BIOLOGY 2021; 10:1277. [PMID: 34943192 PMCID: PMC8698859 DOI: 10.3390/biology10121277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The climate changes expected for the next decades will expose plants to increasing occurrences of combined abiotic stresses, including drought, higher temperatures, and elevated CO2 atmospheric concentrations. These abiotic stresses have significant consequences on photosynthesis and other plants' physiological processes and can lead to tolerance mechanisms that impact metabolism dynamics and limit plant productivity. Furthermore, due to the high carbohydrate content on the cell wall, plants represent a an essential source of lignocellulosic biomass for biofuels production. Thus, it is necessary to estimate their potential as feedstock for renewable energy production in future climate conditions since the synthesis of cell wall components seems to be affected by abiotic stresses. This review provides a brief overview of plant responses and the tolerance mechanisms applied in climate change scenarios that could impact its use as lignocellulosic biomass for bioenergy purposes. Important steps of biofuel production, which might influence the effects of climate change, besides biomass pretreatments and enzymatic biochemical conversions, are also discussed. We believe that this study may improve our understanding of the plant biological adaptations to combined abiotic stress and assist in the decision-making for selecting key agronomic crops that can be efficiently adapted to climate changes and applied in bioenergy production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emanuelle Neiverth de Freitas
- Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14049-900, São Paulo, Brazil; (E.N.d.F.); (A.G.C.)
| | - José Carlos Santos Salgado
- Department of Chemistry, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-901, São Paulo, Brazil;
| | - Robson Carlos Alnoch
- Department of Biology, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-901, São Paulo, Brazil; (R.C.A.); (E.H.); (C.A.M.)
| | - Alex Graça Contato
- Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14049-900, São Paulo, Brazil; (E.N.d.F.); (A.G.C.)
| | - Eduardo Habermann
- Department of Biology, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-901, São Paulo, Brazil; (R.C.A.); (E.H.); (C.A.M.)
| | - Michele Michelin
- Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), Gualtar Campus, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal;
| | - Carlos Alberto Martínez
- Department of Biology, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-901, São Paulo, Brazil; (R.C.A.); (E.H.); (C.A.M.)
| | - Maria de Lourdes T. M. Polizeli
- Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14049-900, São Paulo, Brazil; (E.N.d.F.); (A.G.C.)
- Department of Biology, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-901, São Paulo, Brazil; (R.C.A.); (E.H.); (C.A.M.)
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