ArticleNature biotechnology2018
Sugar release and growth of biofuel crops are improved by downregulation of pectin biosynthesis.
Article in Nature biotechnology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers.
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Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 176 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Influence of Branching Degree and Temperature on the Relaxation of Semidilute and Concentrated Aqueous Solutions of Pectins Obtained from Red- and Blackcurrant.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Gibberellic acid (GA) alleviates Al toxicity in rice (Oryza sativa) through a nitric oxide (NO) dependent pathway.Planta · 2026Article
- Rhamnogalacturonan I is a recalcitrant pectin domain during Clostridium thermocellum-mediated deconstruction of switchgrass biomass.Biotechnology for biofuels and bioproducts · 2025Article
- Changes in Cell Aggregation inPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Deep tissue profiling of Populus stem at single nucleus level reveals uncharacterized cell types and cell-specific gene regulatory networks.Genome biology · 2025Article
- Storming the barricades of rhamnogalacturonan-II synthesis and function.The Plant cell · 2025Review
- Gibberellin signaling regulates pectin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis.Nature communications · 2025Article
- XYLAN O-ACETYLTRANSFERASE 6 promotes xylan synthesis by forming a complex with IRX10 and governs wall formation in rice.The Plant cell · 2024Article
- Putative rhamnogalacturonan-II glycosyltransferase identified through callus gene editing which bypasses embryo lethality.Plant physiology · 2024Article
- Modifying lignin composition and xylan O-acetylation induces changes in cell wall composition, extractability, and digestibility.Biotechnology for biofuels and bioproducts · 2024Article
- The plant cell wall-dynamic, strong, and adaptable-is a natural shapeshifter.The Plant cell · 2024Review
- Heterologous expression of Arabidopsis laccase2, laccase4 and peroxidase52 driven under developing xylem specific promoter DX15 improves saccharification in populus.Biotechnology for biofuels and bioproducts · 2024Article
- Functional Diversification and the Plant Secondary Cell Wall.Journal of molecular evolution · 2023Review
- Polysaccharide assemblies in fungal and plant cell walls explored by solid-state NMR.Structure (London, England : 1993) · 2023Review
- Manipulating microRNA miR408 enhances both biomass yield and saccharification efficiency in poplar.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Lignocellulose molecular assembly and deconstruction properties of lignin-altered rice mutants.Plant physiology · 2023Article
- Polymerization of the backbone of the pectic polysaccharide rhamnogalacturonan I.Nature plants · 2022Article
- The evolving views of the simplest pectic polysaccharides: homogalacturonan.Plant cell reports · 2022Review
- Metaproteomics reveals enzymatic strategies deployed by anaerobic microbiomes to maintain lignocellulose deconstruction at high solids.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Building an extensible cell wall.Plant physiology · 2022Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
42 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cell walls in crops and trees have been engineered for production of biofuels and commodity chemicals, but engineered varieties often fail multi-year field trials and are not commercialized. We engineered reduced expression of a pectin biosynthesis gene (Galacturonosyltransferase 4, GAUT4) in switchgrass and poplar, and find that this improves biomass yields and sugar release from biomass processing. Both traits were maintained in a 3-year field trial of GAUT4-knockdown switchgrass, with up to sevenfold increased saccharification and ethanol production and sixfold increased biomass yield compared with control plants. We show that GAUT4 is an α-1,4-galacturonosyltransferase that synthesizes homogalacturonan (HG). Downregulation of GAUT4 reduces HG and rhamnogalacturonan II (RGII), reduces wall calcium and boron, and increases extractability of cell wall sugars. Decreased recalcitrance in biomass processing and increased growth are likely due to reduced HG and RGII cross-linking in the cell wall.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.