Cellulose: new understanding could lead to tailored biofuels

fpjl2 — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 09:38:08 +0000

Scientists have identified new steps in the way plants produce cellulose, the component of plant cell walls that provides strength, and forms insoluble fibre in the human diet.

̽��ֱ��findings could lead to improved production of cellulose and guide plant breeding for specific uses such as wood products and ethanol fuel, which are sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel-based products.

Published in the journal Nature Communications today, the work was conducted by an international team of scientists, led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and the ̽��ֱ�� of Melbourne.

"Our research identified several proteins that are essential in the assembly of the protein machinery that makes cellulose," said Melbourne's Prof Staffan Persson.

“We found that these assembly factors control how much cellulose is made, and so plants without them can not produce cellulose very well and the defect substantially impairs plant biomass production. ̽��ֱ��ultimate aim of this research would be breed plants that have altered activity of these proteins so that cellulose production can be improved for the range of applications that use cellulose including paper, timber and ethanol fuels."

̽��ֱ��newly discovered proteins are located in an intracellular compartment called the Golgi where proteins are sorted and modified.

“If the function of this protein family is abolished the cellulose synthesizing complexes become stuck in the Golgi and have problems reaching the cell surface where they normally are active” said the lead authors of the study, Drs. Yi Zhang (Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology) and Nino Nikolovski ( ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge).

“We therefore named the new proteins STELLO, which is Greek for to set in place, and deliver.”

“ ̽��ֱ��findings are important to understand how plants produce their biomass,” said Professor Paul Dupree from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge's Department of Biochemistry.

“Greenhouse-gas emissions from cellulosic ethanol, which is derived from the biomass of plants, are estimated to be roughly 85 percent less than from fossil fuel sources. Research to understand cellulose production in plants is therefore an important part of climate change mitigation.”

“In addition, by using cellulosic plant materials we get around the problem of food-versus-fuel scenario that is problematic when using corn as a basis for bioethanol.”

“It is therefore of great importance to find genes and mechanisms that can improve cellulose production in plants so that we can tailor cellulose production for various needs.”

Previous studies by Profs. Persson’s and Dupree’s research groups have, together with other scientists, identified many proteins that are important for cellulose synthesis and for other cell wall polymers.

With the newly presented research they substantially increase our understanding for how the bulk of a plant’s biomass is produced and is therefore of vast importance to industrial applications.

̽��ֱ��work was funded, in part, by the BBSRC and was conducted with the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre Cell Wall Sugars Programme.

Adapted from a ̽��ֱ�� of Melbourne press release.

In the search for low emission plant-based fuels, new research may help avoid having to choose between growing crops for food or fuel.

By using cellulosic plant materials we get around the problem of food-versus-fuel scenario that is problematic when using corn as a basis for bioethanol

Paul Dupree

Nino Nikolovski and Paul Dupree

Arabidopsis seeds exude slime that is attached to the seed by cellulose. On the left is a seed with normal slime stained pink, but on the right, in the stello mutant, the slime is lost because the cellulose is missing.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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Taking inspiration from nature’s brightest colours

sc604 — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:53:14 +0000

Brightly-coloured, iridescent films, made from the same wood pulp that is used to make paper, could potentially substitute traditional toxic pigments in the textile and security industries. ̽��ֱ��films use the same principle as can be seen in some of the most vivid colours in nature, resulting in colours which do not fade, even after a century.

Some of the brightest and most colourful materials in nature – such as peacock feathers, butterfly wings and opals – get their colour not from pigments, but from their internal structure alone.

Researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have recreated a similar structure in the lab, resulting in brightly-coloured films which could be used for textile or security applications. ̽��ֱ��results are published in the journal Advanced Optical Materials.

In plants such as Pollia condensata, striking iridescent and metallic colours are the result of cellulose fibres arranged in spiral stacks, which reflect light at specific wavelengths.

Cellulose is made up of long chains of sugar molecules, and is the most abundant biomass material in nature. It can be found in the cells of every plant and is the main compound that gives cell walls their strength.

“Nature is a great source of inspiration: we can use biocompatible, cheap and abundant materials for making materials that have applications in everyday life,” said Dr Silvia Vignolini from Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry, who led the research. “ ̽��ֱ��materials that we produce can be used as substitutes for toxic dyes and colorants in food but also in security labelling or cosmetics.”

̽��ֱ��researchers used wood pulp, the same material that is used for producing paper, as their starting material. Through manipulating the structure of the cellulose contained in the wood pulp, the researchers were able to fabricate iridescent colour films without using pigments.

To make the films, the researchers extracted cellulose nanocrystals from the wood pulp. When suspended in water, the rod-like nanocrystals spontaneously assemble into nanostructured layers that selectively reflect light of a specific colour. ̽��ֱ��colour reflected depends on the dimensions of the layers. By varying humidity conditions during the film fabrication, the researchers were able to change the reflected colour and capture the different phases of the colour formation.

“Cellulose is a well-known, cheap material used in the paper and pharmaceutical industries, and is also used in filters and insulating materials, however its potential is not yet fully exploited,” said the paper’s lead author Dr Ahu Gumrah Dumanli, of the ̽��ֱ��’s Cavendish Laboratory. “It is important to understand the materials fully if we want to use them for application in optical devices.”

̽��ֱ��research was supported by the Davis Philip Fellowship from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

Inset image: Pollia condensata

Intensely coloured low-cost films made from cellulose could be used in place of toxic dyes, or to detect counterfeit materials.

Nature is a great source of inspiration: we can use biocompatible, cheap and abundant materials for making materials that have applications in everyday life

Silvia Vignolini

Biomimetic cellulose film

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page. For image rights, please see the credits associated with each individual image.

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̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Cellulose

Cellulose: new understanding could lead to tailored biofuels

Taking inspiration from nature’s brightest colours