Hemicelluloses negatively affect lignocellulose crystallinity for high biomass digestibility under NaOH and H2SO4 pretreatments in Miscanthus
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 11 August 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Biotechnology for Biofuels
- Vol. 5 (1), 58
- https://doi.org/10.1186/1754-6834-5-58
Abstract
Background: Lignocellulose is the most abundant biomass on earth. However, biomass recalcitrance has become a major factor affecting biofuel production. Although cellulose crystallinity significantly influences biomass saccharification, little is known about the impact of three major wall polymers on cellulose crystallization. In this study, we selected six typical pairs of Miscanthus samples that presented different cell wall compositions, and then compared their cellulose crystallinity and biomass digestibility after various chemical pretreatments. Results: A Miscanthus sample with a high hemicelluloses level was determined to have a relatively low cellulose crystallinity index (CrI) and enhanced biomass digestibility at similar rates after pretreatments of NaOH and H2SO4 with three concentrations. By contrast, a Miscanthus sample with a high cellulose or lignin level showed increased CrI and low biomass saccharification, particularly after H2SO4 pretreatment. Correlation analysis revealed that the cellulose CrI negatively affected biomass digestion. Increased hemicelluloses level by 25% or decreased cellulose and lignin contents by 31% and 37% were also found to result in increased hexose yields by 1.3-times to 2.2-times released from enzymatic hydrolysis after NaOH or H2SO4 pretreatments. The findings indicated that hemicelluloses were the dominant and positive factor, whereas cellulose and lignin had synergistic and negative effects on biomass digestibility. Conclusions: Using six pairs of Miscanthus samples with different cell wall compositions, hemicelluloses were revealed to be the dominant factor that positively determined biomass digestibility after pretreatments with NaOH or H2SO4 by negatively affecting cellulose crystallinity. The results suggested potential approaches to the genetic modifications of bioenergy crops.Keywords
This publication has 38 references indexed in Scilit:
- Lignin content in natural Populus variants affects sugar releaseProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011
- Practical screening of purified cellobiohydrolases and endoglucanases with α-cellulose and specification of hydrodynamicsBiotechnology for Biofuels, 2010
- Multivariate statistical analysis of X-ray data from cellulose: A new method to determine degree of crystallinity and predict hydrolysis ratesBioresource Technology, 2010
- Cellulose crystallinity index: measurement techniques and their impact on interpreting cellulase performanceBiotechnology for Biofuels, 2010
- Plant cell wall reconstruction toward improved lignocellulosic production and processabilityPlant Science, 2010
- Evaluation of ammonia fibre expansion (AFEX) pretreatment for enzymatic hydrolysis of switchgrass harvested in different seasons and locationsBiotechnology for Biofuels, 2010
- Access to cellulose limits the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis: the role of amorphogenesisBiotechnology for Biofuels, 2010
- Improvement of biomass through lignin modificationThe Plant Journal, 2008
- Lignin modification improves fermentable sugar yields for biofuel productionNature Biotechnology, 2007
- Biodegradation and biological treatments of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin: an overviewInternational Microbiology, 2002