Monday, May 5, 2008 - 11:00 AM
3-06

Effects of Genetic Modified and Mutant Straws on Bio-ethanol Production

Zhimin Li1, Yan Liu2, Wei Liao2, Anping Jiang3, Robert Lee Johnson1, Joshua Wilson1, Chuanbin Liu4, Shulin Chen5, Thomas Koehler6, Robert Zemetra6, and Edward J. Souza6. (1) Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University, 213 L.J. Smith Hall, Pullman, WA 99163, (2) Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Michigan State University, 203 Farrall Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, (3) Biological Systems Engineeing, Washington State University, 213 L.J. Smith Hall, Pullman, WA 99164, (4) Genencor, A Danisco Division, Palo Alto, CA 94304, (5) Department of Biological System Engineering, Washington State University, L.J. Smith 213, Pullman, WA 99163, (6) Department of Plant, Soil & Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, University of Idaho, PO Box 442339, Moscow, ID

Wheat and barley straws are two of the most abundant agricultural residues in the United States Northwest that are potential sources of feedstock for production of renewable bio-based energy. It has been estimated that a total of 2 million dry tons of straws are produced annually in the Washington State. Being similar to other lignocellulosics, the recalcitrant cell wall structure makes enzymatic hydrolysis of the cellulose and hemicelluloses in the straw a great challenge. It has been elucidated that the presence of lignin in the straw is one of the major barriers to limit enzyme and microbes access to the cellulosic polysaccharides. Lignin reduction and fiber structure changes using various genetic and breeding methods could improve biological conversion efficiency of straws, making them attractive resources for energy and chemical production. In this paper, the compositions of several transgenic and mutant wheat and barley straws were analyzed. Statistic analysis indicated that there were no significant changes on lignin content among different treated straw samples. Enzymatic hydrolysis of straws was then conducted in order to explore the effects of transgenic and mutant treatments on hydrolysis performance. The results demonstrated that there were significant differences in terms of glucose conversion between mutant and wild types. For instance, with acid pretreatment, the difference of conversion rates was as high as 30%. Subsequent Simultaneous Saccharificationand Fermentation (SSF) demonstrated the impact of treated samples on ethanol production as well.

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