Impact of CAD-deficiency in flax on biogas production.

Magdalena Wróbel-Kwiatkowska,Jan Szopa,Lucyna Dymińska,Sławomir Jabłoński,Jerzy Hanuza,Jakub Szperlik,Waldemar Rymowicz,Marcin Łukaszewicz

doi:10.1007/s11248-015-9894-4

Abstract

Global warming and the reduction in our fossil fuel reservoir have forced humanity to look for new means of energy production. Agricultural waste remains a large source for biofuel and bioenergy production. Flax shives are a waste product obtained during the processing of flax fibers. We investigated the possibility of using low-lignin flax shives for biogas production, specifically by assessing the impact of CAD deficiency on the biochemical and structural properties of shives. The study used genetically modified flax plants with a silenced CAD gene, which encodes the key enzyme for lignin synthesis. Reducing the lignin content modified cellulose crystallinity, improved flax shive fermentation and optimized biogas production. Chemical pretreatment of the shive biomass further increased biogas production efficiency.

Highlights

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an annual plant with a very long history of cultivation worldwide
Flax shives were used as the substrates for microbial fermentation and biogas production
The shives from the unmodified control plants and genetically modified flax plants were pretreated with acid, alkali or water and supplemented with inoculum material obtained from a laboratory anaerobic reactor fed with cow manure

Summary

Introduction

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an annual plant with a very long history of cultivation worldwide. There are two products: fibers, which are used in textiles and composites (Gredes et al 2012; Wrobel-Kwiatkowska et al 2012) and oil, which is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and has benefits for human health. Biotechnological methods have been used to generate novel flax plants that are more resistant to pathogens (WrobelKwiatkowska et al 2004), are enriched with. Łukaszewicz Department of Biotransformation, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, F.

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