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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Visualization Of Biomass Solubilization And Cellulose Regeneration During Ionic Liquid Pretreatment Of Switchgrass, Seema Singh, Blake A. Simmons, Kenneth P. Vogel Jan 2009

Visualization Of Biomass Solubilization And Cellulose Regeneration During Ionic Liquid Pretreatment Of Switchgrass, Seema Singh, Blake A. Simmons, Kenneth P. Vogel

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Auto-fluorescent mapping of plant cell walls was used to visualize cellulose and lignin in pristine switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) stems to determine the mechanisms of biomass dissolution during ionic liquid pretreatment. The addition of ground switchgrass to the ionic liquid 1-n-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate resulted in the disruption and solubilization of the plant cell wall at mild temperatures. Swelling of the plant cell wall, attributed to disruption of inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonding between cellulose fibrils and lignin, followed by complete dissolution of biomass, was observed without using imaging techniques that require staining, embedding, and processing of biomass. Subsequent …


A Multiple Species Approach To Biomass Production From Native Herbaceous Perennial Feedstocks, J. L. Gonzalez-Hernandez, Gautam Sarath, J. M. Stein, V. Owens, K. Gedye, A. Boe Jan 2009

A Multiple Species Approach To Biomass Production From Native Herbaceous Perennial Feedstocks, J. L. Gonzalez-Hernandez, Gautam Sarath, J. M. Stein, V. Owens, K. Gedye, A. Boe

Gautam Sarath Publications

Due to the rapid rate of worldwide consumption of nonrenewable fossil fuels, production of biofuels from cellulosic sources is receiving increased research emphasis. Here, we review the feasibility to produce lignocellulosic biomass on marginal lands that are not well-suited for conventional crop production. Large areas of these marginal lands are located in the central prairies of North America once dominated by tallgrass species. In this article, we review the existing literature, current work, and potential of two native species of the tallgrass prairie, prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) as candidates for commercial production of …


Quantifying Total And Sustainable Agricultural Biomass Resources In South Dakota—A Preliminary Assessment, Kurt A. Rosentrater, Dennis Todey, Russell Persyn Jan 2009

Quantifying Total And Sustainable Agricultural Biomass Resources In South Dakota—A Preliminary Assessment, Kurt A. Rosentrater, Dennis Todey, Russell Persyn

Kurt A. Rosentrater

Conversion of biomass is considered the next major advance in biorenewable fuels, energy, and products. Wholesale conversion to biomass utilization could result in removal of current crop residues from agricultural fields (on prime agricultural lands) or even implementation of different crops and cropping strategies (i.e., switchgrass on marginal lands). To date, the driver for biomass processing has been economics and limitations on the conversion of the lignocellulose. Over the last forty years significant investments and resultant changes in management practices in the agricultural sector have focused on soil and water conservation. One of the major efforts has focused on conservation-till …


Development And Feeding Of Fall Armyworm On Miscanthus × Giganteus And Switchgrass, Jarrad R. Prasifka, Jeffrey Bradshaw, R. L. Meagher, R. N. Nagoshi, K. L. Steffey, M. E. Gray Jan 2009

Development And Feeding Of Fall Armyworm On Miscanthus × Giganteus And Switchgrass, Jarrad R. Prasifka, Jeffrey Bradshaw, R. L. Meagher, R. N. Nagoshi, K. L. Steffey, M. E. Gray

Panhandle Research and Extension Center

Observations of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), larvae infesting plots of Miscanthus × giganteus Greef and Deuter ex Hodkinson and Renvoize prompted laboratory-based tests of survival, development, and feeding preferences on leaf tissue from M. × giganteus and switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L. Survival from hatch to pupation was >70 and 50% for fall armyworms reared on switchgrass and M. × giganteus, respectively, although survival of the S. frugiperda rice strain was significantly greater than the corn strain on both crops. Developmental times from hatch to pupation or adult emergence showed effects of crop and S. frugiperda …


Potential Export Of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae To The Deep Sea Through Wind Driven Langmuir Circulation, H. M. Dierssen, Richard C. Zimmerman, Lisa A. Drake, David J. Burdige Jan 2009

Potential Export Of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae To The Deep Sea Through Wind Driven Langmuir Circulation, H. M. Dierssen, Richard C. Zimmerman, Lisa A. Drake, David J. Burdige

OES Faculty Publications

Carbon export to the deep sea is conventionally attributed to the sinking of open ocean phytoplankton. Here, we report a Langmuir supercell event driven by high winds across the shallow Great Bahama Bank that organized benthic non-attached macroalgae, Colpomenia sp., into visible windrows on the seafloor. Ocean color satellite imagery obtained before and after the windrows revealed a 588 km2 patch that rapidly shifted from highly productive macroalgae to bare sand. We assess a number of possible fates for this macroalgae and contend that this event potentially transported negatively buoyant macroalgae to the deep Tongue of the Ocean …