Título: Tailoring structural-functional relationships in plant cell walls for improvement of bioenergy crops
Palestrante: Nicholas  Carpita - Department of Botany and Plant Pathology - Purdue University
Data: 28.08.15
Hora: 11h
Local: Auditório Geral (AG) da Botânica - IB/USP

Cellulose, xylan and lignin are the principal macromolecules of lignocellulosic biomass in bioenergy crops such as grasses and fast-growing trees. We explore the design features of cell-wall composition and architecture to inform us how to optimize capture of the wall’s macromolecular structures into biofuels and high-value chemicals. We have established the solution structure of the catalytic domain of a rice CesA8, and we now extend these studies to structures represented in CSL classes with different nucleotide-sugar substrate specificities and glycan products. We have shown in highly diverse populations of maize that alleles contributing to lignin abundance are independent from those that impact enzyme digestibility of cellulose and xylans. We used genome-wide association studies to identify candidate genes responsible for these traits. We are documenting chemical and structural determinants responsible for enhanced saccharification potential across the maize and poplar variants by determination of amorphous and crystalline states of cellulose and defining polymer fractions responsible for cell-cell adhesion. Our vision in C3Bio is to finely tailor cell-wall polymer interactions at molecular-, nano-, and meso-scale to optimize carbon and energy efficiencies of biomass conversion to liquid hydrocarbon fuels by the rescue, chemical reduction, and value added to all biomass-derived carbon.