Article

Correlation between anatomical characteristics of ethanol organosolv pretreated Buddleja davidii and its enzymatic conversion to glucose

  1. Bassem B. Hallac1,
  2. Michael Ray2,3,
  3. Richard J. Murphy2,3,
  4. Arthur J. Ragauskas1,*

Article first published online: 29 JUL 2010

DOI: 10.1002/bit.22884

Issue

Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Volume 107, Issue 5, pages 795–801, 1 December 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Hallac, B. B., Ray, M., Murphy, R. J. and Ragauskas, A. J. (2010), Correlation between anatomical characteristics of ethanol organosolv pretreated Buddleja davidii and its enzymatic conversion to glucose. Biotechnol. Bioeng., 107: 795–801. doi: 10.1002/bit.22884

Author Information

  1. 1

    Institute of Paper Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332; telephone: 404-894-9701; fax: 404-894-4778

  2. 2

    Division of Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK

  3. 3

    Porter Alliance, Imperial College London, London, UK

*Institute of Paper Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332; telephone: 404-894-9701; fax: 404-894-4778.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 29 JUL 2010
  2. Article first published online: 29 JUL 2010
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 19 JUL 2010
  4. Manuscript Revised: 6 JUL 2010
  5. Manuscript Received: 18 MAY 2010

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Keywords:

  • pretreatment;
  • lignin;
  • cellulose;
  • cell wall;
  • middle lamella

Abstract

Buddleja davidii is a unique biomass that has many attractive agroenergy features, especially its wide range of growth habitat. The anatomical characteristics of B. davidii were investigated before and after ethanol organosolv pretreatment (one of the leading pretreatment technologies) in order to further understand the alterations that occur to the cellular structure of the biomass which can then be correlated with its enzymatic digestibility. Results showed that the ethanol organosolv pretreatment of B. davidii selectively removes lignin from the middle lamella (ML), which does not significantly disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose. The removal of ML lignin is a major factor in enhancing enzymatic cellulose-to-glucose hydrolysis. The pretreatment also causes cell deformation, resulting in cracks and breaks in the cell wall. These observations, together with characterization analysis of the cell wall polymer material, lend support to the hypothesis that the physical distribution of lignin in the biomass matrix is an important structural feature affecting biomass enzymatic digestibility. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;107: 795–801. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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