Biotechnological Strategies to Improve Plant Biomass Quality for Bioethanol Production

Figure 3

Increase in cell wall saccharification by using loss-of-function genetic backgrounds and complementation by tissue-specific expression. (a) Wild-type plants have cell walls with high lignin content, optimal biomechanical properties, and recalcitrance to saccharification. (b) Loss-of-function mutants (T-DNA knockout, red insertion) of glucosyltransferase IRX9 have collapsed vascular cells with suboptimal biomechanical properties. (c) The expression of IRX9 over the mutant background under the control of a xylem-specific promoter rescues the biomechanical properties and leaves the rest of the cells with low lignin content, less recalcitrance, and better saccharification [14].