(1) Department of Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan
Abstract:
Lignocellulosic material from trees has great potential to form the basis of the second generation for bioethanol production
because trees produce most of the biomass on the earth. We modified the wall structure of sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) through overexpression of poplar cellulase in the cell walls. The overexpression did not decrease cellulose content but
caused a decrease in xyloglucan bound to the walls. The level of saccharification and successive ethanol production was increased
in the wood of the transgenic sengon overexpressing poplar cellulase compared with that of the wild type plant, and even after
delignification of the wood. We propose that a xyloglucan intercalated into cellulose microfibrils could be one of the recalcitrant
components in the saccharification of lignocelluloses.