Genetic Engineering Strategies for Improving Saccharification Efficiency of Lignocellulosic Biomass in Bioenergy Plants

Abstract

The first-generation biofuels have limited capability to meet the growing transportation fuel demands of the burgeoning world population because food availability and food security are the prime concerns. Therefore, lignocellulosic biomass from plant cell walls is being explored as an alternate yet significant resource to produce second-generation biofuels. Current biofuel production technologies are largely dependent on using sugarcane and corn due to the ease in substrate handling and processing. However, commercial production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass requires substantial improvements in plant feedstocks, pretreatment conditions, saccharification or sugar release processes and fermentation of released simple sugars. Plant biotechnology provides an effective means of developing targeted structural alterations in the lignocellulosic secondary cell walls of bioenergy plants for improved saccharification. This review provides a comprehensive and critical assessment of the published reports about genetic modifications of bioenergy plants toward reducing the secondary cell wall recalcitrance to enhance bioethanol production