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      Potential for Genetic Improvement of Sugarcane as a Source of Biomass for Biofuels

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          Abstract

          Sugarcane ( Saccharum spp. hybrids) has great potential as a major feedstock for biofuel production worldwide. It is considered among the best options for producing biofuels today due to an exceptional biomass production capacity, high carbohydrate (sugar + fiber) content, and a favorable energy input/output ratio. To maximize the conversion of sugarcane biomass into biofuels, it is imperative to generate improved sugarcane varieties with better biomass degradability. However, unlike many diploid plants, where genetic tools are well developed, biotechnological improvement is hindered in sugarcane by our current limited understanding of the large and complex genome. Therefore, understanding the genetics of the key biofuel traits in sugarcane and optimization of sugarcane biomass composition will advance efficient conversion of sugarcane biomass into fermentable sugars for biofuel production. The large existing phenotypic variation in Saccharum germplasm and the availability of the current genomics technologies will allow biofuel traits to be characterized, the genetic basis of critical differences in biomass composition to be determined, and targets for improvement of sugarcane for biofuels to be established. Emerging options for genetic improvement of sugarcane for the use as a bioenergy crop are reviewed. This will better define the targets for potential genetic manipulation of sugarcane biomass composition for biofuels.

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          Most cited references137

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          The Sorghum bicolor genome and the diversification of grasses.

          Sorghum, an African grass related to sugar cane and maize, is grown for food, feed, fibre and fuel. We present an initial analysis of the approximately 730-megabase Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench genome, placing approximately 98% of genes in their chromosomal context using whole-genome shotgun sequence validated by genetic, physical and syntenic information. Genetic recombination is largely confined to about one-third of the sorghum genome with gene order and density similar to those of rice. Retrotransposon accumulation in recombinationally recalcitrant heterochromatin explains the approximately 75% larger genome size of sorghum compared with rice. Although gene and repetitive DNA distributions have been preserved since palaeopolyploidization approximately 70 million years ago, most duplicated gene sets lost one member before the sorghum-rice divergence. Concerted evolution makes one duplicated chromosomal segment appear to be only a few million years old. About 24% of genes are grass-specific and 7% are sorghum-specific. Recent gene and microRNA duplications may contribute to sorghum's drought tolerance.
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            Features of promising technologies for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass.

            N. Mosier (2005)
            Cellulosic plant material represents an as-of-yet untapped source of fermentable sugars for significant industrial use. Many physio-chemical structural and compositional factors hinder the enzymatic digestibility of cellulose present in lignocellulosic biomass. The goal of any pretreatment technology is to alter or remove structural and compositional impediments to hydrolysis in order to improve the rate of enzyme hydrolysis and increase yields of fermentable sugars from cellulose or hemicellulose. These methods cause physical and/or chemical changes in the plant biomass in order to achieve this result. Experimental investigation of physical changes and chemical reactions that occur during pretreatment is required for the development of effective and mechanistic models that can be used for the rational design of pretreatment processes. Furthermore, pretreatment processing conditions must be tailored to the specific chemical and structural composition of the various, and variable, sources of lignocellulosic biomass. This paper reviews process parameters and their fundamental modes of action for promising pretreatment methods.
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              Feedstocks for lignocellulosic biofuels.

              In 2008, the world produced approximately 87 gigaliters of liquid biofuels, which is roughly equal to the volume of liquid fuel consumed by Germany that year. Essentially, all of this biofuel was produced from crops developed for food production, raising concerns about the net energy and greenhouse gas effects and potential competition between use of land for production of fuels, food, animal feed, fiber, and ecosystem services. The pending implementation of improved technologies to more effectively convert the nonedible parts of plants (lignocellulose) to liquid fuels opens diverse options to use biofuel feedstocks that reach beyond current crops and the land currently used for food and feed. However, there has been relatively little discussion of what types of plants may be useful as bioenergy crops.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Front Bioeng Biotechnol
                Front Bioeng Biotechnol
                Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
                Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                2296-4185
                17 November 2015
                2015
                : 3
                : 182
                Affiliations
                [1] 1Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland , St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
                [2] 2College of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University , Hue, Vietnam
                [3] 3Sugar Research Australia , Indooroopilly, QLD, Australia
                [4] 4Joint BioEnergy Institute , Emeryville, CA, USA
                Author notes

                Edited by: P. C. Abhilash, Banaras Hindu University, India

                Reviewed by: Yu-Shen Cheng, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan; Tianju Chen, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

                *Correspondence: Nam V. Hoang, hoang.nam@ 123456uq.net.au

                Specialty section: This article was submitted to Bioenergy and Biofuels, a section of the journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

                Article
                10.3389/fbioe.2015.00182
                4646955
                26636072
                9acb21e6-1822-4b50-a80e-72f8318e9b19
                Copyright © 2015 Hoang, Furtado, Botha, Simmons and Henry.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 25 July 2015
                : 26 October 2015
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 1, Equations: 0, References: 180, Pages: 15, Words: 15370
                Funding
                Funded by: Australian Agency for International Development 10.13039/501100000972
                Funded by: Queensland Government 10.13039/501100003550
                Funded by: U.S. Department of Energy 10.13039/100000015
                Funded by: Office of Science 10.13039/100006132
                Funded by: Biological and Environmental Research 10.13039/100006206
                Funded by: Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory 10.13039/100006235
                Award ID: DE-AC02-05CH11231
                Categories
                Bioengineering and Biotechnology
                Review

                sugarcane,biofuels,biomass for biofuels,biofuel traits,association studies

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