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| Author(s): |
Débora Chaves Coelho Leite
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) |
| Defense date: | 2013-02-08 |
| Examining board members: |
Marcos Silveira Buckeridge;
Marcia Regina Braga;
Gladys Flávia de Albuquerque Melo de Pinna
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| Advisor: | Marcos Silveira Buckeridge |
| Abstract | |
An alternative to increase bioethanol production per area of sugarcane plantation in Brazil would be to use its biomass residue for conversion into ethanol. The knowledge of how cell wall degradation processes occur in plants used for bioenergy production and understanding how they work can be of great use for this technology. Studying the sugarcane anatomy, we found evidences for the formation of a lysigenous aerenchyma in the roots, gas spaces in the root cortex originated from cell death and cell wall degradation. Thus, we decided to deepen the studies in this system using cell wall biochemistry, light and transmission microscopy and immunolabeling. The aerenchyma formation in sugarcane roots starts with programmed cell death and degradation of β-glucan and pectins, especially those from middle lamellae, resulting in cell separation. The hemicelluloses arabinoxylan and xyloglucan only show modifications in fine structure, but they remain in the cell wall. Besides, complete cell wall degradation was observed in a few spots through transmission electron microscopy, although the collapsing of cell walls seems to be more important for aerenchyma formation. Modifications in the polysaccharides are possibly associated with changes in cell wall physical properties, making them more susceptible to folding and collapsing, generating gas spaces and resistant lamellae that support these spaces. Described as \"cell wall degradation\" in aerenchyma definition in literature, we observed that this phenomenon is the result of a series of events that allow cell wall modifications, and not necessarily its complete degradation, resulting in the formation of gas spaces (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 10/12833-9 - Characterization of cell wall degradation in the aerenchyma formation in roots of sugarcane |
| Grantee: | Débora Chaves Coelho Leite |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Master |