The targeting of starch binding domains from starch synthase III to the cell wall alters cell wall composition and properties

GRISOLÍA, M; PERALTA, DA; VALDEZ, H.; BARCHIESI, J; DIEGO FABIAN GOMEZ CASATI; BUSI, M. V.

PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2017 vol. 93 p. 121 - 135

0167-4412

The plant cellwall, which represents a major source of biomass for biofuel production, iscomposed of cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectins and lignin. A potential biotechnological target for improvingthe production of biofuels is the modification of plant cellwalls. This modification is achieved via several strategies, including, amongothers, altering biosynthetic pathways and modifying the associations andstructures of various cell wall components. In this study, we modified the cellwall of A. thaliana by targeting thestarch-bindingdomains of A. thaliana starch synthase III to this structure.The resulting transgenicplants (E8-SDB123) showed an increasedbiomass, higherlevels of both fermentable sugars and hydrolyzed cellulose and altered cellwall properties such as higher laxity and degradability, which are valuablecharacteristics forthe second-generationbiofuels industry. The increased biomass and degradabilityphenotype of E8-SBD123 plants could be explained by the putative cell-wallloosening effect of the in tandemstarch binding domains. Based on these results, our approach represents apromising biotechnological tool for reducing of biomass recalcitrance andtherefore, the need for pretreatments.