Synthetic-biology approach for plant lignocellulose engineering

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Plant Science
• Synthetic Biology

Background:

• Plant biomass is a renewable resource for green chemicals and proteins.
• Industrial adoption of plant-based systems is limited by established mammalian cell cultures.
• Lignocellulose (LC) valorization is key for sustainable plant products, but LC recalcitrance is a major hurdle.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review advances in lignocellulose (LC) manipulation for industrial applications.
• To present strategies for reducing LC recalcitrance in plants.
• To mitigate growth penalties associated with yield loss in plant-based systems.

Main Methods:

• In planta engineering approaches to modify plant cell walls.
• Synthetic biology tools to redesign lignin and structural glycan pathways.
• Analysis of genetic pathways involved in LC biosynthesis and recalcitrance.

Main Results:

• Recent advances in engineering plant cell walls to reduce lignocellulose recalcitrance.
• Eight strategies for redesigning lignin and glycan pathways are detailed.
• Methods to mitigate yield loss and growth penalties in engineered plants.

Conclusions:

• Reducing lignocellulose recalcitrance is crucial for industrial biomass valorization.
• In planta engineering and synthetic biology offer powerful tools for optimizing plant-based production systems.
• Sustainable plant-derived products can be more competitive with further advancements in biomass processing.