May 3, 2017 ORNL researchers used sophisticated laser scanning techniques to compare the breakdown of fermented popular (B) compared with unfermented popular (A), as they quantified, for the first time, chemical changes in the cell walls surface. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A bottleneck to breaking down woody plants for use in biofuels or other products may occur at the plant cell wall's surface, according to a new Oak Ridge National Laboratory study.

Researchers exposed samples of non-pretreated poplar to a microorganism called Clostridium thermocellum. The team found that the breakdown of carbohydrates during microbial fermentation ceased prematurely in the secondary cell wall, when the plant's sugar material was only about 30 percent processed.

"The surface quickly goes through significant changes and becomes non-productive for further degradation by enzymes even as 70 percent of usable plant sugars are still trapped in the cell wall structure," said ORNL's Alexandru Dumitrache.

While further research is required to resolve the holdup, results of the study published in Green Chemistry for the first time quantified the changes in the surface chemistry.

Explore further: Microscopybiomass close-up

More information: Alexandru Dumitrache et al. Cellulose and lignin colocalization at the plant cell wall surface limits microbial hydrolysis of Populus biomass, Green Chem. (2017). DOI: 10.1039/C7GC00346C

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists created an approach to get a better look at plant cell wall characteristics at high resolution as they create more efficient, less costly methods to deconstruct biomass.

Plant cell wall growth is typically described as a simple process, but researchers using a microscope that can resolve images on the nanoscale level have observed something more complex.

Scientists have mapped changes in composition of plant cell walls over space and time, providing new insights into the development and growth of all plants.

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Quantifying changes in surface chemistry of woody plants during ... - Phys.Org