Improvement of fermentable sugar yields of mangium through transgenic overexpression of xyloglucanase

Abstract

Recalcitrance to saccharifi cation is a major limiting factor of the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol. Levels of wood saccharification and subsequent ethanol production were higher in transgenic mangium (Acacia mangium) trees overexpressing xyloglucanase than in wild-type plants, even after delignification of the wood. We propose that a decrease in the quantity of xyloglucan that is intercalated into cellulose microfibrils could facilitate the process of saccharification. © 2011 The Japan Wood Research Society.