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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Biomass Quality Responses to Selection for Increased Biomass Yield in Perennial Energy Grasses

Perennial grasses are candidates for biomass cropping systems that are focused on providing a wide range of ecosystem services in addition to sustainable bioenergy production. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) are two of the dominant grasses of the tallgrass prairie and both are candidates for development of multifunctional diverse production systems. Breeding programs for both species are aimed at increasing biomass yield as a mechanism of improving economic sustainability without increasing production costs. The objective of this study was to determine if long-term selection for increased biomass yield in these two species has had any adverse impacts on biomass quality, or the ability to convert biomass into bioenergy. Check cultivars and improved breeding populations of both species were evaluated for a wide range of biomass quality traits at 13 locations in the North Central and Northeastern USA, and a subset of these populations were also subjected to more intensive and detailed fermentation analyses. In general, lignin and ferulates either remained constant or decreased following selection for increased biomass yield in the various genetic pedigrees. These changes resulted in some increases in predicted ethanol production and in vitro digestibility. Here, the prediction of increased digestibility was confirmed by higher glucose release by pretreatment and deconstruction of an advanced lowland population. However, bioreactor fermentations with two different biofuel-producing microbes showed no differences in ethanol production. Overall, these studies indicated that the improved switchgrass and big bluestem populations had greater biomass yields without significantly reducing biomass quality or conversion efficiency into ethanol, suggesting that selection can achieve increases in biomass productivity while maintaining consistent biomass quality.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Reductive catalytic fractionation of cotton stalks: catalytic strategy for tuning the selectivity of phenolic monomers

Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is a primary step to delink lignin from the lignin-carbohydrate complex for bioethanol production and other value-added products. Presently, these processes yield lignin (technical) with significant structural changes compared to native lignin and make it difficult to valorize. Reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF) is an advanced pretreatment process to valorize native lignin to selective phenolic monomers before capitalizing on carbohydrates. Herein, cotton stalks (CS) were pretreated with ethanol: water mixture catalyzed by bimetallic, Ru-Ni/HY (RNY) and Ru-Fe/HY (RFY), and trimetallic, Ru-Fe-Ni/HY (RFNY), catalysts using the endogenously produced H 2 . The favorable catalytic properties of the RFNY catalyst, including high reducibility, acidity, metal dispersion, the synergistic effect of all the metals, and appropriate pore and particle size resulted in the highest catalytic activity. Maximum 92% delignification efficiency was achieved with 91% holocellulose retention. The extracted lignin after depolymerization in the same step produced a 19 wt.% yield of phenolic monomers. Increasing the duration of the reaction from 2 to 6 h increased the selectivity to saturated alkyl chain phenolics (1 to 16 wt.%) at the expense of hemicellulose (50 to 9%). The fate of carbohydrates left behind after the RCF (CS-RCF) process was analyzed through enzymatic saccharification and compared with raw CS and acid-pretreated CS. In conclusion, CS-RCF yielded maximum glucose yield (45 g/L) within an incubation period of 72 h.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Rapid quantification of alcohol production in microorganisms based on nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry (NIMS)

We described a mass spectrometry-based assay to rapidly quantify the production of primary alcohols directly from cell cultures. This novel assay used the combination of TEMPO-based oxidation chemistry and oxime ligation, followed by product analysis based on Nanostructure-Initiator Mass Spectrometry. This assay enables quantitative monitor both C5 to C18 alcohols as well as glucose and gluconate in the growth medium to support strain characterization and optimization. We find that this assay yields similar results to gas chromatography for isoprenol production but required much less acquisition time per sample. We applied this assay to gain new insights into P. Putida's utilization of alcohols and find that this strain largely could not grow on heptanol and octanol.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

The 2.4 Å structure of Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate kinase: Implications for stability and regulation

Human liver pyruvate kinase (hlPYK) catalyzes the final step in glycolysis, the formation of pyruvate (PYR) and ATP from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and ADP. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (FBP), a pathway intermediate of glycolysis, serves as an allosteric activator of hlPYK. Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate kinase (ZmPYK) performs the final step of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway, which is similar to glycolysis in that energy is harvested from glucose and pyruvate is generated. The Entner-Doudoroff pathway does not have FBP as a pathway intermediate, and ZmPYK is not allosterically activated. In this work, we solved the 2.4 Å X-ray crystallographic structure of ZmPYK. The protein is dimeric in solution as determined by gel filtration chromatography, but crystallizes as a tetramer. The buried surface area of the ZmPYK tetramerization interface is significantly smaller than that of hlPYK, and yet tetramerization using the standard interfaces from higher organisms provides an accessible low energy crystallization pathway. Interestingly, the ZmPYK structure showed a phosphate ion in the analogous location to the 6-phosphate binding site of FBP in hlPYK. Circular Dichroism (CD) was used to measure melting temperatures of hlPYK and ZmPYK in the absence and presence of substrates and effectors. The only significant difference was an additional phase of small amplitude for the ZmPYK melting curves. We conclude that the phosphate ion plays neither a structural or allosteric role in ZmPYK under the conditions tested. In conclusion, we hypothesize that ZmPYK does not have sufficient protein stability for activity to be tuned by allosteric effectors as described for rheostat positions in the allosteric homologues.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Techno-economic and life-cycle assessment of fuel production from mixotrophic Galdieria sulphuraria microalgae on hydrolysate

Outdoor photoautotrophic algal growth is limited by light attenuation and attendant respiratory CO 2 losses during dark periods, limiting its productivity potential and carbon use efficiency. Developing a system that leverages mixotrophic growth (combining the benefits of both heterotrophic and photoautotrophic growth) has the potential to dramatically improve the total productivity and economics of the system. However, it is unknown if the productivity gains offset the added costs of outdoor mixotrophic cultivation using cellulosic hydrolysate as the feedstock. In this study, corn stover-derived cellulosic sugars were evaluated as the mixotrophic organic carbon source for the cultivation of Galdieria sulphuraria, which can metabolize both glucose and xylose from corn stover hydrolysate. A techno-economic analysis (TEA) and a life-cycle assessment (LCA) were conducted based on a detailed engineering process model for both glass helical photobioreactor and covered pond cultivation platforms, coupled with downstream conversion and upgrading to renewable diesel through hydrothermal liquefaction. Results show the minimum biomass selling price for cultivation in the photobioreactor design assuming a productivity of 1.575 kg m -3 day -1 and a substrate yield of 0.57 g g -1 is $2869 per dry metric ton. The costs are dramatically reduced in the covered pond design which assumes a productivity of 0.8 kg m -3 day -1 and a substrate yield of 0.7 g g -1 , 921 dollars per dry metric ton. Expanding the system boundary to include downstream processing results in a minimum fuel selling price of 8.24 dollars and 3.32 dollars dm 3 GE -1 for the photobioreactor and covered pond systems, respectively. Finally, life-cycle results demonstrate a global warming potential of 339 and 9.1 gCO 2 -eq. MJ -1 on a well-to-wheels basis and a net energy ratio of 2.21 and 0.25 MJ MJ -1 for the photobioreactor and covered pond systems, respectively. Discussion focuses on a required co-product selling price as a function of biomass diversion to meet economic parity with conventional fuels.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Excessive Aurantiochytrium acetophilum docosahexaenoic acid supplementation decreases growth performance and breast muscle mass of broiler chickens

We report Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid with health-promoting potential. This study was to investigate effects of supplemental DHA from Aurantiochytrium acetophilum on growth performance, health status, meat quality, and protein synthesis signaling of broiler chickens. Day-old male chicks were housed in an environmental control room (6 cages/treatment, 8 chicks/cage), and fed a corn-soybean meal basal diet supplemented with the DHA-rich A. acetophilum biomass (Heliae, Gilbert, AZ) at 0, 1, 2, and 4% (0, 1.7, 3.4 and 6.8 g DHA/kg diet) for 6 weeks. Growth performance was measured weekly. Blood samples were collected at weeks 3 and 6 (2 chicks/cage). Four tissues were sampled (2 chicks/cage) for biochemical and meat quality analyses. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and regression. Compared with the control, the 4% A. acetophilum diet decreased (p < 0.05) body weight gain (19%) and gain to feed ratio (19%) during weeks 4–6. The A. acetophilum supplementation dose-dependently decreased (p < 0.05, R 2 = 0.21–0.54) plasma alanine amino transferase activity and glucose concentrations, but had little effect on plasma activity of alkaline phosphatase or concentrations of inorganic phosphorus and uric acid at weeks 3 and 6. Compared with the control, the 4% A. acetophilum diet decreased (p < 0.05) breast muscle weight by 21%, and down-regulated (p < 0.05) mRNA levels of mammalian target of rapamycin and ribosomal s6 protein (S6), and protein levels of phosphorylated S6 to S6 and phosphorylated S6 kinase beta 1 to S6 kinase beta 1. The A. acetophilum supplementation linearly increased (p < 0.01) lipid peroxidation (R 2 = 0.62–0.90) and hardness and chewiness (R 2 = 0.34–0.44) of breast and thigh muscles. In conclusion, supplemental 4% (6.8 g DHA/kg), but not 1 or 2%, of A. acetophilum impaired growth performance, breast muscle mass accumulation, and(or) protein synthesis signaling of broilers.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Muconic acid production from algae hydrolysate as a high-value co-product of an algae biorefinery

Muconic acid is an attractive bio-derived product because it can be easily converted to adipic acid, a high-value and high-volume monomer used in the production of nylon and other valuable consumer plastics. As such, production of muconic acid from algae hydrolysate was explored to expand the suite of products available from algal biomass. Here we have established initial performance parameters and have shown that the range of substrates present in algae hydrolysate that are consumed by Pseudomonas putida includes at least glucose, mannose, glycerol, acetic acid, and lactic acid. We achieved complete utilization of these major carbon sources found in Scenedesmus acutus hydrolysate with a maximum muconic acid productivity of 0.25 g/L h. Final titer was 13.0 g/L (27% molar process yield) at approximately 50 h. In addition, algae hydrolysate does not require any additional nutrients to achieve these performance metrics. Techno-economic analysis showed the potential to support up to 150 algal biorefineries at this yield with significant greenhouse gas reductions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Super-porous Pt/CuO/Pt hybrid platform for ultra-sensitive and selective H 2 O 2 detection

A super-porous Pt/CuO/Pt hybrid electrode is demonstrated with extremely high sensing performance parameters for the hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) detection. A unique physiochemical approach is adapted for the fabrication of 3-D super-porous Pt/CuO/Pt sensing platform. Here, the super-porous Pt/CuO/Pt hybrid platform demonstrates a superior sensitivity of 16,694 µA mM -1 cm -2 with a limit of detection of 2.91 nM (S/N = 3). It also demonstrates an excellent selectivity against the interfering molecules such as NaCl, fructose, ascorbic acid, citric acid, dopamine and glucose with a wide linear range. The demonstrated performance ranks the Pt/CuO/Pt hybrid platform as one of the best H 2 O 2 sensors as summarized in the Table 2. The super-porous CuO layer is fabricated by a dynamic hydrogen bubbling technique of electrochemical deposition and metallic Pt NP decoration is achieved by the physical vapor deposition (PVD) and post-annealing. The super-porous CuO layer offers a drastically improved electrochemical active surface area, and the Pt NP decoration offers a significantly improved conductivity and improved charge accumulation for the H 2 O 2 reduction. The DFT simulations confirm the predominance of CuO over Cu 2 O and Pt over Pd for the H 2 O 2 detection based on the adsorption energy, density of states and charge accumulation calculations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Structural properties of optically clear bacterial cellulose produced by Komagataeibacter hansenii using arabitol

Here, bacterial cellulose (BC) exhibits beneficial properties for use in biomedical applications but is limited by its lack of tunable transparency capabilities. To overcome this deficiency, a novel method to synthesize transparent BC materials using an alternative carbon source, namely arabitol, was developed. Characterization of the BC pellicles was performed for yield, transparency, surface morphology, and molecular assembly. Transparent BC was produced using mixtures of glucose and arabitol. Zero percent arabitol pellicles exhibited 25% light transmittance, which increased with increasing arabitol concentration through to 75% light transmittance. While transparency increased, overall BC yield was maintained indicating that the altered transparency may be induced on a micro-scale rather than a macro-scale. Significant differences in fiber diameter and the presence of aromatic signatures were observed. Overall, this research outlines methods for producing BC with tunable optical transparency, while also bringing new insight to insoluble components of exopolymers produced by Komagataeibacter hansenii.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Expression of the Trichoderma reesei expansin-like protein, swollenin, in poplar results in biomass with improved sugar release by enzymatic hydrolysis

Ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass has been considered an alternative to corn-based ethanol and fossil fuel. However, the secondary cell wall structure prevents efficient degradation of cellulose. Expression of cell wall degrading enzymes has been suggested as one solution to generate suitable feedstocks for lignocellulosic ethanol production. Swollenin (SWO), originating from Trichoderma reesei, disrupts cellulose structure with low-level hydrolytic activity to the glucan chain. Previously, characterization of T. reesei SWO has been carried out in multiple microorganisms and tobacco. This study heterologously overexpressed T. reesei SWO in hybrid poplar (Populus tremula × alba), a promising feedstock for biofuel production, under the control of either the constitutive Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S (CaMV 35S) promoter or the putative vascular tissue specific Subterranean Clover Stunt Virus S7 (SCSV) promoter. Transgenic poplar lines with high or moderate SWO expression level showed abnormal growth and reduced biomass production, along with increased glucose and reduced lignin contents. Increased cellulose crystallinity was observed in two transgenic events. This study also investigated the effect of in planta SWO expression on cellulose saccharification efficiency and found that transgenic events improved glucan conversion rates compared to wild type poplar. The results suggest SWO-overexpressing transgenic poplar lines could be a potential feedstock for ethanol production.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Hydrothermal pretreatment for valorization of genetically engineered bioenergy crop for lipid and cellulosic sugar recovery

Lipids accumulated in the vegetative tissues of cellulosic feedstocks can be a potential raw material for biodiesel and bioethanol production. In this work, bagasse of genetically engineered sorghum was subjected to liquid hot-water pretreatment at 170, 180, and 190°C for different reaction time. Under the optimal pretreatment condition (170°C, 20 min), the residue was enriched in glucan (57.39 ± 2.63 % w/w) and xylan (13.38 ± 0.49 % w/w). The total lipid content of the pretreated residue was 6.81% w/w, similar to that observed in untreated bagasse (6.30% w/w). Pretreatment improved the enzymatic digestibility of bagasse, allowing a recovery of 79% w/w and 86% w/w of glucose and xylose, respectively. The pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification resulted in a 2-fold increase in total lipid in enzymatic residue compared to the original bagasse. Furthermore, pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis enabled high sugar recovery while concentrating triglycerides and free fatty acids in the residue.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Redefining the product portfolio of oilcane bagasse biorefinery: Recovering natural colorants, vegetative lipids and sugars

Bioenergy crops have been known for their ability to produce biofuels and bioproducts. In this study, the product portfolio of recently developed transgenic sugarcane (oilcane) bagasse has been redefined for recovering natural pigments (anthocyanins), sugars, and vegetative lipids. The total anthocyanin content in oilcane bagasse has been estimated as 92.9 ± 18.9 µg/g of dried bagasse with cyanidin-3-glucoside (13.5 ± 18.9 µg per g of dried bagasse) as the most prominent anthocyanin present. More than 85 % (w/w) of the total anthocyanins were recovered from oilcane bagasse at a pretreatment temperature of 150 °C for 15 min. These conditions for the hydrothermal pretreatment also led to a 2-fold increase in the glucose yield upon the enzymatic saccharification of the pretreated bagasse. Further, a 1.5-fold enrichment of the vegetative lipids was demonstrated in the pretreated residue. Re-defining green biorefineries with multiple high-value products in a zero-waste approach is the need of the hour for attaining sustainability.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Xylose metabolic engineering of Issatchenkia orientalis for 3-hydroxypropionic acid production from cellulosic hydrolysate without nutrient supplementation

Bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass offers a promising alternative to petroleum-based chemical production. However, inefficient xylose utilization and toxic compounds in cellulosic hydrolysate limit microbial fermentation, as the hydrolysate contains substantial amounts of xylose in addition to glucose. To address these challenges, we engineered Issatchenkia orientalis to produce 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) directly from sorghum hydrolysate under low-pH conditions. A heterologous xylose utilization pathway consisting of XYL1, XYL2, and XYL3 from Scheffersomyces stipitis was introduced into an engineered 3-HP producing strain, enabling efficient conversion of xylose to 3-HP. The engineered strain produced 46.8 g/L 3-HP from sorghum hydrolysate without nutrient supplementation. To eliminate the lag phase under low-pH conditions, fermentation was conducted at pH 6.0 for the first three days, after which pH control was discontinued and in situ 3-HP accumulation buffered the culture. This partial pH control strategy increased 3-HP productivity by 55% from 0.20 to 0.31 g/L∙h, while maintaining low-pH conditions. Introducing an additional copy of XYL2 further increased 3-HP titer to 53.5 g/L and the yield by 33%, from 0.30 to 0.40 g/g sugars, with pH reaching 4.5 at the end of fermentation. This represents one of the highest reported 3-HP titers and yields from cellulosic hydrolysate without additional nutrient supplementation. This work demonstrates a nutrient-independent and low-pH bioprocess for upgrading lignocellulosic hydrolysate into 3-HP, highlighting the industrial potential of engineered xylose-utilizing I. orientalis for sustainable production of platform chemicals from renewable feedstocks.

3-Hydroxypropionic acid↗
DOE OSTI2021

A historical perspective on the regulation of cellulose biosynthesis

Cellulose is a β-1,4 linked glucose polymer that is synthesized by higher plants, algae and even by some bacteria and animals, making it the most abundant polymer on earth. As the major load bearing structure of the plant cell wall, it is hugely important in terms of plant growth and development, and in recent years it has gained interest for its biotechnological applications. Naturally, there has been a large concerted research effort to uncover the regulatory mechanisms underpinning cellulose synthesis. During the last century, several major breakthroughs in our understanding of cellulose synthesis in algae, bacteria, and plants have been pivotal in advancing the field of cellulose research, improving the likelihood that cellulose synthesis could be feasibly adapted for sustainable purposes. In this work, we will summarize the major hypotheses and advancements made during the last century on the regulation of cellulose biosynthesis, focusing on Arabidopsis thaliana.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hempseed cell wall polysaccharides are dominated by linear xylans and cellulose: Comprehensive structural profiling of ten cultivars of industrial hemp, Cannabis sativa L .

Hempseed is a rich source of dietary fiber; however, there has been limited research on the variability of carbohydrate composition in hempseed cell walls. The primary aim of this study was to conduct a comprehensive chemical and structural analysis of the cell wall polysaccharides in ten hempseed cultivars. Water-soluble polysaccharides (WSP) and water-insoluble residues (WIR) were isolated and subsequently analyzed for their monosaccharide composition using HPAEC-PAD, glycosyl linkage analysis using GC–MS, and structural characterization via NMR spectroscopy. All hempseed cultivars contained a high proportion of insoluble fibers and smaller amounts of soluble polysaccharides. Glucose and xylose were the most abundant components of the WIR fractions, while the WSP fractions contained abundant amounts of galactose, galacturonic acid, arabinose, rhamnose, and mannose. The results of linkage and spectroscopic analysis were consistent with the compositional analysis, identifying cellulose and acetylated linear xylans as primary components of WIR, and arabinogalactans, rhamnogalacturonans, heteromannans, xyloglucans, and arabinan as predominant in WSP. Altogether, the study revealed a comparable cell wall structure among the analyzed hemp seed varieties. The high fiber content of whole hempseed-based ingredients presents significant potential for food manufacturers seeking to develop products with enhanced dietary fiber content, offering both functional and nutritional benefits for consumers.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Creation of hollow silica-fiberglass soft ceramics for thermal insulation

Hollow-structured materials show promise in thermal insulation because the shells encapsulating gaseous voids can interrupt heat transport pathways. Here, in this study, we present two low-cost routes to fabricate hollow silica nanoshells, via gas-phase and liquid-phase methods. The gas-phase synthesis method generates hollow shells by a droplet surface precipitation mechanism in a flame aerosol reactor. The liquid-phase synthesis route forms hollow shells by removal of a carbon template, which is produced by hydrothermal reaction of glucose. Both approaches (gas- and liquid-phase) provide hollow silica with amorphous structure, low thermal conductivity (0.023 and 0.026 W m –1 K –1 ), small particle size (442 and 383 nm), thin shell (35 and 36 nm), and low density (0.015 and 0.033 g cm –3 ). We employed high shear mechanical mixing to fabricate hollow silica-fiberglass composite ceramics. The resulting three-dimensional network provides the ceramics with robust mechanical elasticity and fire-retardancy while maintaining low thermal conductivity, dramatically outperforming an analogous material using commercial silica gel in place of the hollow nanoshells. Our findings provide two practical routes to synthesize hollow silica, either of which can be used to manufacture a class of hollow shell-fiber nanocomposite soft ceramics for energy-saving applications.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Biomass pretreatment with distillable ionic liquids for an effective recycling and recovery approach

Ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment methods show incredible promise for the efficient conversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks to fuels and chemicals. Given their low vapor pressures, distillation-based methods of extracting ionic liquids out of biomass post-pretreatment have historically been ignored in favor of alternative methods. We demonstrate a process to distill four acetate-based ionic liquids ([EthA][OAc], [PropA][OAc], [MAEthA][OAc], and [DMAEthA][OAc]) at low pressure and high purity that overcome some disadvantages of “water washing” and “one pot” recovery methods. Out of four tested ILs, ethanolamine acetate ([EthA][OAc]) is shown to have the most agreeable conversion metrics for commercial bioconversion processes achieving 73.6% and 51.4% of theoretical glucose and xylose yields respectively and >85 % recovery rates. Our process metrics are factored into a techno-economic analysis where [EthA][OAc] distillation is compared to other recovery methods as well as ethanolamine pretreatment at both milliliter and liter scales. In conclusion, although our TEA shows [EthA][OAc] distillation underperforming against other processes, we show a step-by-step avenue to reduce sugar production cost below the wholesale dextrose price at scale.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Sustainable co-production of plant lipids and cellulosic sugars from transgenic energycane at an industrially relevant scale: A proof of concept for alternative feedstocks

Development of sustainable and scalable technologies to convert lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels is critical to achieving carbon neutrality. The potential of transgenic bioenergy crops as a renewable source of sugars and lipids has been demonstrated at bench-scale. However, scaling up these processes is important for holistic analysis. Here proof-of-concept for chemical-free hydrothermal pretreatment of transgenic energycane-oilcane line L13 at an industrially relevant scale to recover vegetative lipids along with cellulosic sugars is presented. Here, pilot-scale processing of 97 kg of transgenic energycane-oilcane L13 stems and high solids pretreatment of bagasse enhanced the recovery of cellulosic glucose and xylose by 5-fold as compared to untreated bagasse and helped in the enrichment of vegetative lipids in the biomass residues which allowed its recovery at the end of the bioprocess. Palmitic and oleic acids were the predominant fatty acids (FAs) extracted from stems and leaves. The processing did not affect lipid composition. The efficiency of lipid recovery from untreated biomass was 75.9% which improved to 88.7% upon pretreatment. The vegetative tissues of transgenic energycane-oilcane L13 contained 0.42 metric tons/hectare of lipids. Processing vegetative tissues yielded 0.38 metric tons/hectare of lipids. This approaches an oil yield similar to soybean (global average 0.44 metric tons/hectare) and is almost twice as high as the oil yield from sugarcane engineered to hyperaccumulate lipids (0.20 metric tons/hectare). The study suggests that further optimization by state-of-the-art metabolic engineering and biomass processing can establish transgenic bioenergy crops for commercial drop-in fuel production.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗