Evaluation of Brown Midrib Sorghum Mutants as a Potential Biomass Feedstock for 2,3-Butanediol Biosynthesis

Abstract

Three sorghum backgrounds [Atlas, Early Hegari (EH), and Kansas Collier (KC)] and two bmr mutants (bmr6 and bmr12) of each line were evaluated and compared for grain and biomass yield, biomass composition, and 2,3-butanediol production from biomass. The data showed that the bmr6 mutation in EH background led to a significant decrease in stover yield and increase in grain yield, whereas the stover yield was increased by 64% without affecting grain yield in KC background. The bmr mutants had 10 to 25% and 2 to 9% less lignin and structural carbohydrate contents, respectively, and 24 to 93% more non-structural sugars than their parents in all sorghum lines, except EH bmr12. The total fermentable sugars released were 22 to 36% more in bmr mutants than in parents for Atlas and KC, but not for EH. The bmr6 mutation in KC background produced the most promising feedstock, among the evaluated bmr mutants, for 2,3-butanediol production without affecting grain yield, followed by KC bmr12 and Atlas bmr6, but the bmr mutation had an adverse effect in EH background. This indicated that the genetic background of the parent line and type of bmr mutation significantly affect the biomass quality as a feedstock for biochemical production.

Innovative Consortia of Micro and Macro Fungal Systems: Cellulolytic Enzyme Production from Groundnut Shell Biomass and Supportive Structural Analysis

“…Typically, lignin content of groundnut shell is around 26.4% as reported by Patricia et al [29]. However, the plant lignin content is significantly affected by its genotype as well as the environment in which the plant is cultivated [30]. Boonmee reported 35.2% lignin content in peanut shell [31], which is in close agreement with our reported values.…”

Biomass and Bioenergy Potential of Brown Midrib Sweet Sorghum Germplasm

“…Evidence in this study suggest that the sweet mutation not only improves the SSC quality trait, but the stover yield of bmr , high sugar recombinant sorghum lines is increased, boosting theoretical ethanol production. This is especially noteworthy because most recent studies (Marsalis et al, 2010; Gill et al, 2014; Guragain et al, 2017; Kumar et al, 2018) confirm those reported previously (Oliver et al, 2004; Pedersen et al, 2005) regarding the inferior and/or variable agronomic performance of most sorghum lines with the bmr trait. This shortcoming has slowed deployment of this trait in both the forage and bioenergy sectors of agriculture.…”

Integration of renewable deep eutectic solvents with engineered biomass to achieve a closed-loop biorefinery

“…It is worth noting that, unlike certain mutants affected in other steps of the lignin biosynthetic pathway, several CAD mutants do not show any visible phenotype or biomass yield penalty. This is the case for greenhouse-grown switchgrass (39,49) and field-grown corn (50, 51), poplar (52), and sorghum (53), although genotype-dependent variations have been observed for the latter (54,55). It is also important that DES-based catalyst-free pretreatment of transgenic biomass could lower chemical use and energy inputs typically required for the production of intermediate sugars, which can be further processed into value-added products.…”