Optimizing miscanthus biomass quality for biofuel production

Miscanthus is an undomesticated perennial energy grass characterized by a high productivity and resource use efficiency. The main goal of the EU FP7 funded program OPTIMISC is to identify genotypes and plant characteristics that are relevant for breeding high-yielding miscanthus genotypes that produce biomass of excellent quality for different value chains. Biomass quality is determined to a large extent by the chemical composition and structural resilience of the cell wall, as the processing of biomass into biofuel and biomaterials depends on the deconstruction of the cell wall and use of its components. Within this project we perform a number of experiments with the aim to characterize biomass composition and quality in miscanthus to optimize the production of cellulosic ethanol. These experiments include i) evaluation of the influence of environmental conditions on the composition and quality of miscanthus biomass, by means of a multi-location trial across six sites in Europe with fifteen promising genotypes; ii) in depth analysis of biomass quality for biofuel production through the evaluation of genotypes with contrasting cell wall compositions, and iii) analysis of relationships between genotypic differences in response to abiotic stresses, such as drought, salt, cold and frost stress, and the composition and quality of biomass of a wide variety of miscanthus genotypes. The characterization of such effects is of fundamental importance to direct and expedite the genetic improvement of miscanthus for biofuel production.