A Review on Miscanthus Biomass Production and Composition for Bioenergy Use: Genotypic and Environmental Variability and Implications for Breeding

International audienceThe lignocellulosic C4 perennial crop miscanthus and, more particularly, one of its species, Miscanthus x giganteus, are especially interesting for bioenergy production because they combine high biomass production with a low environmental impact. However, few varieties are available, which is risky due to disease susceptibility. Gathering worldwide references, this review shows a high genotypic and environmental variability for traits of interest related to miscanthus biomass production and composition, which may be useful in breeding programs for enhancing the availability of suitable clones for bioenergy production. The M. x giganteus species and certain clones in the Miscanthus sinensis species seem particularly interesting due to high biomass production per hectare. Although the industrial requirements for biomass composition have not been fully defined for the different bioenergy conversion processes, the M. x giganteus and Miscanthus sacchariflorus species, which show high lignin contents, appear more suitable for thermochemical conversion processes. In contrast, the M. sinensis species and certain M. x giganteus clones with low lignin contents were interesting for biochemical conversion processes. The M. sacchariflorus species is also interesting as a progenitor for breeding programs, due to its low ash content, which is suitable for the different bioenergy conversion processes. Moreover, mature miscanthus crops harvested in winter seem preferred by industry to enhance efficiency and reduce the expense of the processes. This investigation on miscanthus can be extrapolated to other monocotyledons and perennial crops, which may be proposed as feedstocks in addition to miscanthus

Breeding progress and preparedness for mass‐scale deployment of perennial lignocellulosic biomass crops switchgrass, miscanthus, willow and poplar

UK: The UK‐led miscanthus research and breeding was mainly supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the BBSRC CSP strategic funding grant BB/CSP1730/1, Innovate UK/BBSRC “MUST” BB/N016149/1, CERES Inc. and Terravesta Ltd. through the GIANT‐LINK project (LK0863). Genomic selection and genomewide association study activities were supported by BBSRC grant BB/K01711X/1, the BBSRC strategic programme grant on Energy Grasses & Bio‐refining BBS/E/W/10963A01. The UK‐led willow R&D work reported here was supported by BBSRC (BBS/E/C/00005199, BBS/E/C/00005201, BB/G016216/1, BB/E006833/1, BB/G00580X/1 and BBS/E/C/000I0410), Defra (NF0424) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (B/W6/00599/00/00). IT: The Brain Gain Program (Rientro dei cervelli) of the Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research supports Antoine Harfouche. US: Contributions by Gerald Tuskan to this manuscript were supported by the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, a US Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science, under contract number DE‐AC05‐00OR22725. Willow breeding efforts at Cornell University have been supported by grants from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Contributions by the University of Illinois were supported primarily by the DOE Office of Science; Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER); grant nos. DE‐SC0006634, DE‐SC0012379 and DE‐SC0018420 (Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation); and the Energy Biosciences Institute. EU: We would like to further acknowledge contributions from the EU projects “OPTIMISC” FP7‐289159 on miscanthus and “WATBIO” FP7‐311929 on poplar and miscanthus as well as “GRACE” H2020‐EU.3.2.6. Bio‐based Industries Joint Technology Initiative (BBI‐JTI) Project ID 745012 on miscanthus.Peer reviewedPostprintPublisher PD

Crop diagnosis and probe genotypes for interpreting genotype environment interaction in winter wheat trials

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SELECTION VARIETALE ET MILIEU Sélection pour l’adaptation au milieu et prise en compte des interactions génotype/milieu

L’adaptation au milieu est un objectif de sélection recherché pour un grand nombre d’espèces végétales et elle fait le plus souvent appel à l’analyse du rendement. L’améliorateur peut rechercher des génotypes présentant une « adaptation spécifique », c’est-à-dire une adaptation à des milieux spécifiques, ou au contraire une « adaptation générale » à des conditions de milieux variés *1+. L’adaptation spécifique pourra être obtenue pour des stress particuliers, observés en l’occurrence dans des milieux particuliers : citons, par exemple, l’adaptation du maïs à des froids printaniers dans les régions françaises septentrionales, l’adaptation du blé tendre d’hiver à une alimentation azotée sub-optimale, la tolérance de l’orge à la mosaïque modérée, etc. L’adaptation générale, parfois appelée adaptabilité, est conférée par une adaptation simultanée à un ensemble de contraintes du milieu, telles que le froid, la sécheresse, le manque d’eau, le manque ou l’excès d’azote, les maladies, etc. C’est en quelque sorte une somme d’adaptations spécifiques. Mais le nombre de contraintes du milieu est tel qu’il est difficile de les étudier toutes. Il faudrait, en effet, des dispositifs factoriels très lourds à mettre en place car nécessitant l’étude d’un grand nombre de facteurs à la fois, avec toutes les combinaisons entre facteurs. Les conditions naturelles sont, de surcroît, difficiles à reproduire en enceintes contrôlées. Ainsi, l’adaptation générale s’observe le plus souvent en conditions naturelles dans des réseaux d’expérimentation regroupant un ensemble de milieux sur plusieurs années, les « réseaux multilocaux et pluriannuels ». La notion d’adaptation est à replacer dans le contexte des interactions génotype/milieu car des variations d’adaptation se traduisent par des interactions génotype/milieu. Lorsque plusieurs génotypes sont étudiés dans plusieurs milieux, le caractère considéré, par exemple le rendement, présente deux sources de variation : celle due aux génotypes, appelée « effet du génotype », et celle due aux milieux, appelée « effet du milieu ». Pour des caractères agronomiques complexes tels que le rendement, la teneur en protéines, etc., ces deux sources sont rarement additives. En effet, le cas le plus général est celui où il existe un écart, une déviation entre la valeur observée et celle prévue par l’additivité des effets du milieu et des effets du génotype, ce qu’on appelle communément écart au modèle additif. Graphiquement, l’additivité se traduit par un parallélisme des réactions entre génotypes d’un milieu à un autre (figure 1A) tandis que l’interaction se manifeste par un non-parallélisme de ces réactions. On parle d’interaction quantitative (figure 1B) lorsque les classements des génotypes sont conservés entre les lieux et d’interaction qualitative (figure 1C) dans le cas d’une inversion de classement *2+. C’est une notion relative qui dépend à la fois des génotypes et des milieux considérés. Étudier l’adaptation d’un génotype revient donc à analyser l’interaction génotype/milieu

Biomass for the Future: Miscanthus and Sorghum for New End-Uses in France

International audienc

Comment adapter la biomasse aux utilisations énergétiques ?

National audienc

Early prediction of <em>Miscanthus</em> biomass production and composition based on the first six years of cultivation

International audienceMiscanthus is a promising feedstock for second-generation bioethanol production. This perennial crop produces its biomass in two phases: a yield-building phase, where the biomass production increases gradually, and a plateau phase, where it is maintained. However, to target the breeding of Miscanthus for second-generation bioethanol production, the early selection of interesting traits is critical. We therefore investigated the interannual correlations within and among the traits related to biomass production and composition. We studied 21 clones belonging to M. x giganteus J. M. Greef & Deuter ex Hodk. & Renvoize, M. sacchariflorus (Maxim.) Benth. & Hook. f. ex Franch., and M. sinensis Andersson species cultivated on plots from the second to the sixth year at two harvest dates. The biomass production, canopy height, plant stem number, and above-ground plant volume index were better predicted from the third year than from the second year (minimum correlation coefficients of 0.76 and 0.67 respectively). The stem diameter was well predicted from the second year (correlations above 0.93). The canopy height and the above-ground plant volume index determined in the second and third year were the best predictors of the biomass produced in the second, third, and fourth year (minimum correlations of 0.77 against 0.52 for flowering date or 0.64 for stem diameter). For older crops, the canopy height measured in the second and third year was the best predictor of the biomass production (correlations above 0.70). The interannual correlations were lower for the biomass composition-related traits than for the production-related traits and fluctuated over time. These results showed that early prediction of interesting traits is feasible to breed varieties tailored for biofuel production

A Diagnosis of Yield-Limiting Factors on Probe Genotypes for Characterizing Environments in Winter Wheat Trials

International audienc

Choosing probe genotypes for the analysis of genotype-environment interaction in winter wheat trials

International audienc

Determining environmental covariates which explain genotype environment interaction in winter wheat through probe genotypes and biadditive factorial regression

International audienc