Glycosyl residue composition of cell wall extracts from tillers of switchgrass WT and PvGAUT4-KD plants
Glycosyl residue composition of cell wall extracts from tillers of switchgrass WT and PvGAUT4-KD plants
Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Lee, Yi-Ching.
Glycosyl residue composition of cell wall extracts from tillers of switchgrass WT and PvGAUT4-KD plants
Glycosyl residue composition and total carbohydrate in cell wall extracts from WT and PvGAUT4-KD lines
Glycosyl residue composition of cell wall extracts from stems of P. deltoides WT, vector control and PdGAUT4-KD plants
Glycosyl residue composition and total carbohydrate of cell wall extracts from WT and PdGAUT4-KD lines
Sugar release and growth of biofuel crops are improved by downregulation of pectin biosynthesis
Nature Research reporting summary for manuscript
Phylogenetic tree of GAUT Protein Family and gene model, RNAi construct, and relative transcript abundance of GAUT4 in switchgrass, rice and poplar knockdown (KD) lines.
Glycosyl linkage analysis of fractionated cell walls from switchgrass WT and PvGAUT4-KD lines
Glycosyl linkage analysis of fractionated cell walls from P.deltoides WT and PdGAUT4-KD lines.
Cell walls in crops and trees have been engineered for production of biofuels and commodity chemicals, but engineered varieties often fail multi-year field trials and are not commercialized. In this paper, we engineered reduced expression of a pectin biosynthesis gene (Galacturonosyltransferase 4, GAUT4) in switchgrass and poplar, and find that this improves biomass yields and sugar release from biomass processing. Both traits were maintained in a 3-year field trial of GAUT4-knockdown switchgrass, with up to sevenfold increased saccharification and ethanol production and sixfold increased biomass yield compared with control plants. We show that GAUT4 is an α-1,4-galacturonosyltransferase that synthesizes homogalacturonan (HG). Downregulation of GAUT4 reduces HG and rhamnogalacturonan II (RGII), reduces wall calcium and boron, and increases extractability of cell wall sugars. Finally, decreased recalcitrance in biomass processing and increased growth are likely due to reduced HG and RGII cross-linking in the cell wall.