Deletion of a gene cluster encoding pectin degrading enzymes in Caldicellulosiruptor bescii reveals an important role for pectin in plant biomass recalcitrance.

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Abstract

A major obstacle, and perhaps the most important economic barrier to the effective use of plant biomass for the production of fuels, chemicals, and bioproducts, is our current lack of knowledge of how to efficiently and effectively deconstruct wall polymers for their subsequent use as feedstocks. Plants represent the most desired source of renewable energy and hydrocarbons because they fix CO2, making their use carbon neutral. Their biomass structure, however, is a barrier to deconstruction, and this is often referred to as recalcitrance. Members of the bacterial genus Caldicellulosiruptor have the ability to grow on unpretreated plant biomass and thus provide an assay for plant deconstruction and biomass recalcitrance.

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Molecular Cloning : A Laboratory Manual

Joseph Sambrook, David William Russell (2001)

The first two editions of this manual have been mainstays of molecular biology for nearly twenty years, with an unrivalled reputation for reliability, accuracy, and clarity. In this new edition, authors Joseph Sambrook and David Russell have completely updated the book, revising every protocol and adding a mass of new material, to broaden its scope and maintain its unbeatable value for studies in genetics, molecular cell biology, developmental biology, microbiology, neuroscience, and immunology. Handsomely redesigned and presented in new bindings of proven durability, this three–volume work is essential for everyone using today’s biomolecular techniques. The opening chapters describe essential techniques, some well–established, some new, that are used every day in the best laboratories for isolating, analyzing and cloning DNA molecules, both large and small. These are followed by chapters on cDNA cloning and exon trapping, amplification of DNA, generation and use of nucleic acid probes, mutagenesis, and DNA sequencing. The concluding chapters deal with methods to screen expression libraries, express cloned genes in both prokaryotes and eukaryotic cells, analyze transcripts and proteins, and detect protein–protein interactions. The Appendix is a compendium of reagents, vectors, media, technical suppliers, kits, electronic resources and other essential information. As in earlier editions, this is the only manual that explains how to achieve success in cloning and provides a wealth of information about why techniques work, how they were first developed, and how they have evolved.

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Deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels and chemicals.

Shishir P. S. Chundawat, Gregg T. Beckham, Michael Himmel … (2011)

Plants represent a vast, renewable resource and are well suited to provide sustainably for humankind's transportation fuel needs. To produce infrastructure-compatible fuels from biomass, two challenges remain: overcoming plant cell wall recalcitrance to extract sugar and phenolic intermediates, and reduction of oxygenated intermediates to fuel molecules. To compete with fossil-based fuels, two primary routes to deconstruct cell walls are under development, namely biochemical and thermochemical conversion. Here, we focus on overcoming recalcitrance with biochemical conversion, which uses low-severity thermochemical pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis to produce soluble sugars. Many challenges remain, including understanding how pretreatments affect the physicochemical nature of heterogeneous cell walls; determination of how enzymes deconstruct the cell wall effectively with the aim of designing superior catalysts; and resolution of issues associated with the co-optimization of pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation. Here, we highlight some of the scientific challenges and open questions with a particular focus on problems across multiple length scales.

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An Arabidopsis cell wall proteoglycan consists of pectin and arabinoxylan covalently linked to an arabinogalactan protein.

Li Tan, Stefan Eberhard, Sivakumar Pattathil … (2013)

Plant cell walls are comprised largely of the polysaccharides cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectin, along with ∼10% protein and up to 40% lignin. These wall polymers interact covalently and noncovalently to form the functional cell wall. Characterized cross-links in the wall include covalent linkages between wall glycoprotein extensins between rhamnogalacturonan II monomer domains and between polysaccharides and lignin phenolic residues. Here, we show that two isoforms of a purified Arabidopsis thaliana arabinogalactan protein (AGP) encoded by hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein family protein gene At3g45230 are covalently attached to wall matrix hemicellulosic and pectic polysaccharides, with rhamnogalacturonan I (RG I)/homogalacturonan linked to the rhamnosyl residue in the arabinogalactan (AG) of the AGP and with arabinoxylan attached to either a rhamnosyl residue in the RG I domain or directly to an arabinosyl residue in the AG glycan domain. The existence of this wall structure, named ARABINOXYLAN PECTIN ARABINOGALACTAN PROTEIN1 (APAP1), is contrary to prevailing cell wall models that depict separate protein, pectin, and hemicellulose polysaccharide networks. The modified sugar composition and increased extractability of pectin and xylan immunoreactive epitopes in apap1 mutant aerial biomass support a role for the APAP1 proteoglycan in plant wall architecture and function.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Biotechnol Biofuels

Title: Biotechnology for biofuels

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

ISSN: 1754-6834

ISSN (Print): 1754-6834

Publication date (Electronic): 2014

Volume: 7

Issue: 1

Affiliations

[1 ] Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 USA ; The BioEnergy Science Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA.

[2 ] Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 USA ; The BioEnergy Science Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA.

[3 ] The BioEnergy Science Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA ; Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 USA.