Sucrose content, lignocellulose accumulation and in vitro digestibility of sugarcane internodes depicted in relation to internode maturation stage and Saccharum genotypes

Author(s)

Collucci, Daniel ^[1] ; Bueno, Raphael C. A. ^[1] ; Milagres, Adriane M. F. ^[1] ; Ferraz, Andre ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Biotecnol, Escola Engn Lorena, BR-12602810 Lorena, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS; v. 139, NOV 1 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Sugarcane hybrids acquired several characteristics through plant breeding, including high sucrose and lignocellulose production. Recently, biomass-based industries designed to produce high-value chemicals and fuels from whole plant biomass encouraged new breeding efforts to develop plants with high sucrose yields and low lignocellulose recalcitrance. The present study utilized four experimental sugarcane hybrids to evaluate the dynamics of sucrose and lignocellulose accumulation, lignocellulose composition, and enzymatic digestibility during internode development. During the internode maturation stages, the sucrose content increased while the lignocellulose fraction presented an increased lignin and decreased glucan content. Enzymatic digestibility and lignin content of the lignocellulose fraction displayed an inversely related pattern, and the first internode was two-fold more digestible than mature intemodes, indicating that digestibility decreases significantly with internode maturation and tissue lignification. Some sugarcane hybrids (H89 and H58) combined desirable phenotype characteristics (high sucrose yield and low lignocellulose recalcitrance) that were not detected in H140 and H321. Proper molecular markers discriminating these samples will help to further design breeding steps to produce sugarcane modern hybrids combining high sucrose yields and low lignocellulose recalcitrance. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/02985-2 - Evaluation of the correlation between sucrose accumulation process in sugarcane and the digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass
• Grantee: Raphael Cardoso de Assis Bueno
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• FAPESP's process: 14/06923-6 - Sugar cane biomass recalcitrance: basic knowledge related to the cell wall construction, pretreatment and enzymatic digestion, applied for the development of innovative biorefinery models
• Grantee: Andre Luis Ferraz
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Thematic Grants