Abstract Background Pretreatments are commonly used to facilitate the deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass its component sugars and aromatics. Previously, we showed that iron ions can be as co-catalysts reduce severity dilute acid pretreatment biomass. Transgenic iron-accumulating Arabidopsis rice plants exhibited higher content in grains, increased yield, importantly, enhanced sugar relea...

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) remains the preeminent American perennial (C4) bioenergy crop for cellulosic ethanol, that could help displace over a quarter of US current petroleum consumption. Intriguingly, there is often little response to nitrogen fertilizer once stands are established. The rhizosphere microbiome plays critical role in cycling and overall plant nutrient uptake. We used hi...

The use of switchgrass (panicum virgatum) as the feedstock for a biofuels complex requires a procedure that coordinates harvesting, drying, storage, and densification techniques with the perpetual availability of process heat from a nuclear reactor and gas from a hydrogen facility. Preparation of feedstock involves assuring a 20% moisture content and compacting the biomass into pellets that can...

random genetic drift, mutation, and natural selection combined with environmental variation due to latitude, Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a widely adapted warmaltitude, soil type, and precipitation have resulted in season perennial that has considerable potential as a biofuel crop. significant genetic and phenotypic variation in switchEvolutionary processes and environmental factors hav...

This present study was undertaken to investigate the ultrasonic delignification of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and effects irradiation on molecular microstructure switchgrass. We investigated this question using response surface methodology (RSM) featuring a four-factor, three-level Box–Behnken experimental design with acoustic power (120, 180, 240 W), solid–solvent ratio (1/25, 1/20, 1/1...

Nitrate loss from bioenergy crop fields has attracted considerable attention during the last few years because of its potential negative impact on aquatic and human health. Both controllable and uncontrollable factors for nitrate loss have been the subject of several previous studies. Due to differences in climate, biophysical dissimilarities and land management characteristics in different par...

The APETALA2/ethylene response factor (AP2/ERF) superfamily of transcription factors (TFs) plays essential roles in the regulation of various growth and developmental programs including stress responses. Members of these TFs in other plant species have been implicated to play a role in the regulation of cell wall biosynthesis. Here, we identified a total of 207 AP2/ERF TF genes in the switchgra...

Biodiversity experiments show that increases in plant diversity can lead to greater biomass production, and some researchers suggest that high diversity plantings should be used for bioenergy production. However, many methods used in past biodiversity experiments are impractical for bioenergy plantings. For example, biodiversity experiments often use intensive management such as hand weeding to...

The main objective of this thesis was to evaluate aqueous ammonia soaking (AAS) as a pretreatment method for lignocellulosic biomass preparation for biofuel production, in a variety of settings. This thesis, partially fulfills the Master of Science degree requirement, is prepared in the journal paper format, and includes three papers that have been published in or are prepared for submission to...

Observations of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), larvae infesting plots of Miscanthus x giganteus Greef and Deuter ex Hodkinson and Renvoize prompted laboratory-based tests of survival, development, and feeding preferences on leaf tissue from M. x giganteus and switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L. Survival from hatch to pupation was >70 and 50% for fall ar...