Journal of Energy Bioscience 2024, Vol.15, No.6, 349-357 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/jeb 349 Case Study Open Access Case Study: Developing High-Fiber Maize for Bioethanol Production Xian Zhang, Minli Xu Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Breeding, Sanya, 572000, China Corresponding email: minli.xu@cuixi.org Journal of Energy Bioscience, 2024, Vol.15, No.6 doi: 10.5376/jeb.2024.15.0029 Received: 29 Sep., 2024 Accepted: 03 Nov., 2024 Published: 16 Nov., 2024 Copyright © 2024 Zhang and Xu, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Zhang X., and Xu M.L., 2024, Case study: developing high-fiber maize for bioethanol production, Journal of Energy Bioscience, 15(6): 349-357 (doi: 10.5376/jeb.2024.15.0029) Abstract Bioethanol is an important component of renewable energy and a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. Corn is the main raw material for bioethanol production, but there are still challenges in optimizing its varieties to improve yield and efficiency. This study explores the characteristics, breeding strategies, and impact on fermentation efficiency of high fiber corn. It introduces methods using traditional breeding, molecular technology, and genetic engineering techniques to increase the content of cellulose and hemicellulose in the fiber biosynthesis pathway. Through case studies, these methods are integrated to demonstrate the improvement of field performance and bioethanol production, emphasizing the benefits of high fiber corn, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and economic advantages for farmers. Challenges such as breeding trade-offs, adoption barriers, and regulatory issues are discussed. The aim of this study is to emphasize the potential of genome editing and global collaboration in advancing high fiber corn production, incorporating bioethanol into a broader renewable energy framework. Keywords High-fiber maize; Bioethanol production; Renewable energy; Maize breeding; Fiber biosynthesis 1 Introduction It is widely recognized that the supply of fossil fuels has obvious limitations (Zhou and Yan, 2024). The development of biofuels, especially the production of bioethanol, has received much attention from researchers in recent years. This renewable energy has a dual benefit, which can not only ease the tight supply and demand situation of oil resources, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The various biomass raw materials are converted through the microbial fermentation process, and the final product is an alcoholic substance that can be used as a fuel. A sustainable alternative to traditional fossil fuels is thus formed. This fuel can be used in combination with gasoline or alone, reducing carbon emissions while improving energy security (Byrt et al., 2011). The balance between economic growth and environmental impact is well addressed by the potential shown by bioethanol. Maize (Zea mays L.) is widely cultivated around the world and is the crop with the highest global production. Its high starch content makes it the preferred raw material for bioethanol production. The largest component of maize kernels is starch, accounting for about 70% to 80% of the dry weight. This property makes it particularly suitable for fermentation to produce bioethanol (Semenčenko et al., 2015). maize biomass, including straw, provides an important source of raw materials for second-generation biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol, which shows that the alleviation of food security issues has been achieved (Infante et al., 2018). The dual functional characteristics of grain production and biomass supply have significantly increased the application value of maize as an energy crop (Munaiz et al., 2021). Despite these significant advantages, the optimization of maize varieties for bioethanol production still faces multiple challenges. The main obstacle is the recalcitrant nature of lignocellulosic biomass (Torres et al., 2015; Choudhary et al., 2019), which severely limits its conversion efficiency into fermentable sugars. It is crucial to increase the level of genetic diversity through the implementation of specialized breeding programs, which involves the improvement of key traits such as biomass output, cell wall digestion efficiency, and lignin composition content (Voorend et al., 2015). The trade-off between food output and biomass quality also needs to be considered, as examples show that the environmental and economic impacts of maize cultivation must be carefully managed (Slegers et al., 2017).
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