Improvement of Sugar Production from Transgenic Switchgrass with Low-Temperature Alkali Pretreatment

Genetically modified switchgrass (cv. Alamo) and its conventional plant were both pretreated using two groups of conditions: lime at 50 degrees C and the combination of lime and NaOH at ambient temperature. The results show that the transgenic plant (with altered lignin content and composition) was more susceptible to alkali pretreatment than the conventional plant. At the recommended conditions (0.1 g/g of raw biomass and 12 h) for lime pretreatment at 50 degrees C, the glucan and xylan conversions of transgenic switchgrass were 12 and 10%, respectively, higher than those of the conventional plant. These increases were reduced to 7 and 8% for glucan and xylan conversions, respectively, when the best conditions (0.025 g of lime/g of raw biomass, 0.1 g of NaOH/g of raw biomass, and 6 h) for combined alkali pretreatment at ambient temperature were employed. The advantage of transgenics over a conventional plant in sugar production could be maximized if proper pretreatment conditions were used.