Plants: biofactories for a sustainable future?

Abstract

Depletion of oil reserves and the associated effects on climate change have prompted a re-examination of the use of plant biomass as a sustainable source of organic carbon for the large-scale production of chemicals and materials. While initial emphasis has been placed on biofuel production from edible plant sugars, the drive to reduce the competition between crop usage for food and non-food applications has prompted massive research efforts to access the less digestible saccharides in cell walls (lignocellulosics). This in turn has prompted an examination of the use of other plant-derived metabolites for the production of chemicals spanning the high-value speciality sectors through to platform intermediates required for bulk production. The associated science of biorefining, whereby all plant biomass can be used efficiently to derive such chemicals, is now rapidly developing around the world. However, it is clear that the heterogeneity and distribution of organic carbon between valuable products and waste streams are suboptimal. As an alternative, we now propose the use of synthetic biology approaches to 're-construct' plant feedstocks for optimal processing of biomass for non-food applications. Promising themes identified include re-engineering polysaccharides, deriving artificial organelles, and the reprogramming of plant signalling and secondary metabolism.

Epidermal biopolysaccharides from plant seeds enable biodegradable turbulent drag reduction

“…Our results show that biopolysaccharides sourced from seed mucilage can deliver comparable performance as synthetic drag-reducing polymers, and potentially offer a cost advantage over the latter in prospective large-scale engineering applications. Synthetic and systems biology techniques have today enabled us to identify and alter plant and bacterial genomes involved in the biosynthesis of mucilage and extracellular polysaccharides 77–80 ; these novel methods may in the future enable the selection and engineering of high-yield bacterial strains or plant cultivars that can support large-scale commercial extraction of biopolymers of even higher molar masses which are especially well-suited for turbulent drag reduction. With further advances in this direction, we believe that low cost, biodegradable, mucilage-based drag reducing agents may hold the potential to transform polymer drag reduction into a practical and cost-effective strategy for energy-efficient propulsion in real-life maritime applications.…”

Towards the development of a sustainable soya bean‐based feedstock for aquaculture

“…While some biological hurdles remain, exploitation of the tools of synthetic biology (Collins, ; Facchini et al ., ; Jenkins et al ., ) will permit a facile strategy for the assembly of an array genetic cassettes linked on a single T‐DNA or an DNA element suitable for direct DNA delivery, incorporating a diverse set of promoter and terminator elements for optimal coordination of gene expression. The stacks created here were assembled by crossing, resulting in duplication of many genetic elements, along with multiple copies of the selectable marker cassette.…”

Potential of Cellulosic Ethanol to Overcome Energy Crisis in Pakistan

“…However, some strains of white-rot fungi have promising potential to degrade lignin by simultaneous attack on lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose, whereas few can selectively work just on lignin. It is pertinent here to note that synergistic biocatalytic ability of white rot fungi would be source of efficient depolymerization method and will be helpful in proving that the heteropolymer lignin represents an untapped resource of renewable aromatic chemicals [48,49]. Lignocellulosic biofuel production is not yet economically competitive with fossil fuels; therefore, to ensure successful utilization of all sugars is important for improving the overall economy especially in terms of maximum theoretical yield.…”