Abstract

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is a potential lignocellulosic feedstock for biofuel production due to its exceptional biomass accumulation ability and high convertible carbohydrate content. We report a systematic study on lignin content, deposition, identification, cloning of genes involved in lignin biosynthesis and their differential expression analysis. Lignin content among the clones varied from 26.87 to 23.19% with the highest in the clone EC11010 and the lowest in high sugar Co86032. RNA-seq analysis revealed an up-regulation of dirigent like protein in the top internodes and Metallothioneine proteins were down-regulated in the bottom internodes of high fiber than the low fiber. The DGE represented a group of genes involved in cellular processes, and single –organism process, were represented in the biological processes while that of genes involved in localization, and signaling only in the top internodes. The cellular component category mainly consists of proteins involved in cell, and cell part while that of membrane protein were represented only in the top internodes. Within the molecular function category, binding, catalytic activity and transporter activity were highly represented in the top internodes. Hence our research in determining associations between biomass composition and expression will guide the development of improved varieties for sugar and fibre production.