• Energy Research
• 15. Life on land close

Biotechnology can greatly improve the efficiency of forest tree breeding for the production of biomass, energy, and materials. However, EU regulations impede the market introduction of genetically modified (GM) trees so their socioeconomic and environmental benefits are not realized. European policy makers should concentrate on a science-based regulatory process.

Significance In the transition from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy, bioethanol will be generated from the lignocellulosic biomass of second-generation biofuel crops, such as poplar. The lignin polymers in the plant cell walls represent the main factor determining the recalcitrance of biomass to enzymatic processing. We have grown genetically modified poplars, down-regulated for cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR), an enzyme in the lignin biosynthetic pathway, in field trials in Belgium and France. We show that wood samples derived from the transgenic trees are more easily processed into ethanol. However, strong down-regulation also affected biomass yield. In conclusion, CCR down-regulation may become a successful strategy to improve biomass processing if the yield penalty can be overcome.

Wood from biomass plantations with fast growing tree species such as poplars can be used as an alternative feedstock for production of biofuels. To facilitate utilization of lignocellulose for saccharification, transgenic poplars with modified or reduced lignin contents may be useful. However, the potential impact of poplars modified in the lignification pathway on ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi, which play important roles for plant nutrition, is not known. The goal of this study was to investigate EM colonization and community composition in relation to biomass and nutrient status in wildtype (WT, Populus tremula × Populus alba) and transgenic poplar lines with suppressed activities of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, caffeate/5-hydroxyferulate O-methyltransferase, and cinnamoyl-CoA reductase in a biomass plantation. In different one-year-old poplar lines EM colonization varied from 58% to 86%, but the EM community composition of WT and transgenic poplars were indistinguishable. After two years, the colonization rate of all lines was increased to about 100%, but separation of EM communities between distinct transgenic poplar genotypes was observed. The differentiation of the EM assemblages was similar to that found between different genotypes of commercial clones of Populus × euramericana. The transgenic poplars exhibited significant growth and nutrient element differences in wood, with generally higher nutrient accumulation in stems of genotypes with lower than in those with higher biomass. A general linear mixed model simulated biomass of one-year-old poplar stems with high accuracy (adjusted R(2) = 97%) by two factors: EM colonization and inverse wood N concentration. These results imply a link between N allocation and EM colonization, which may be crucial for wood production in the establishment phase of poplar biomass plantations. Our data further support that multiple poplar genotypes regardless whether generated by transgenic approaches or conventional breeding increase the variation in EM community composition in biomass plantations.