Prospection and biotechnological use evaluations of genes involved in the structural modification of crystalline cellulose in sugarcane

• Grant number: 16/25785-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: June 01, 2017
• End date: May 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Tatiane da Franca Silva
• Grantee: Tatiane da Franca Silva
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de Lorena (EEL). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Lorena , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Andre Luis Ferraz ; Elisson Antonio da Costa Romanel

Abstract

One of the major barriers to ethanol second-generation producing is the high cost of enzymes used in enzymatic saccharification of cellulose. Recalcitrant biomass characteristics consume a high enzyme loading that increases the processing cost and making it economically unviable. In saccharification stage, the cellulases enzymes have a limited accessibility to microfibrils of the crystalline cellulose, present in a highly ordered packed. Studies have been showed that the plant Expansinas proteins are able to act in synergism with the cellulases in hydrolysis process. Although the architecture of the crystalline cellulose microfibrils is one of the main responsible factors for the second generation ethanol viability, little information about the genes involved in its structure are known in sugarcane, which has a great energy potential for biofuels production. This work proposes to identify and characterize the genes of the Expansin multigenic family in sugarcane; to verify the correlation of the expression profile of these genes with the structural organization of the stem tissue and to analyze the effect of the Expansin protein addition in generic enzymatic cocktails. This approach may contribute to the development of a custom enzymatic cocktail with higher productivity and yield, helping the viability of the bagasse hydrolysis process. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FANELLI, AMANDA; REINHARDT, LAURIE; MATSUOKA, SIZUO; FERRAZ, ANDRE; SILVA, TATIANE DA FRANCA; HATFIELD, RONALD D.; ROMANEL, ELISSON. Biomass composition of two new energy cane cultivars compared with their ancestral Saccharum spontaneum during internode development. BIOMASS & BIOENERGY, v. 141, OCT 2020. (14/06923-6, 14/17486-6, 16/24391-7, 16/25785-9)

FANELLI, AMANDA; RANCOUR, DAVID M.; SULLIVAN, MICHAEL; KARLEN, STEVEN D.; RALPH, JOHN; RIANO-PACHON, DIEGO MAURICIO; VICENTINI, RENATO; SILVA, TATIANE DA FRANCA; FERRAZ, ANDRE; HATFIELD, RONALD D.; et al. Overexpression of a Sugarcane BAHD Acyltransferase Alters Hydroxycinnamate Content in Maize Cell Wall. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, v. 12, APR 21 2021. (14/17486-6, 16/24391-7, 16/25785-9)

Filed patent(s) as a result of this research project