TABLE 1.
Promising perennial lignocellulosic crops for cultivation on MALs.
| Crop | Habit | Biomass yield (tons ha–1 y–1) | Available genetic resources to support breeding | References |
| Miscanthus (Miscanthus spp.) | Herbaceous | 15–19 | Genome sequence; genetic maps; QTLs for biomass quality, agronomic performance, plant morphology | Atienza et al., 2002, 2003a,b; Kim et al., 2012; Ma et al., 2012; Swaminathan et al., 2012; Gabrielle et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2014, 2016; Gifford et al., 2015; van der Weijde, 2016, van der Weijde et al., 2017b; Xue et al., 2016; Baute et al., 2018 |
| Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) | Herbaceous | 1-22 | Genetic maps, EST databases; SNP arrays; genome samplings; BAC libraries; analyses of natural variation; QTLs for biomass, yield, plant height, flowering time, reproductive maturity | Casler et al., 2011; Gabrielle et al., 2014; Dong et al., 2015; Lowry et al., 2015; O Di Nasso et al., 2015; Serba et al., 2015; Bartley et al., 2016; Bahri et al., 2018; Baute et al., 2018; Tornqvist et al., 2018 |
| Giant reed (Arundo donax) | Herbaceous | 7-61 | Mutant and clone collections; leaf and shoot transcriptomic sequences; studies on genetic diversity (AFLP, RAPD, and microsatellites markers) | Khudamrongsawat et al., 2004; Zegada-Lizarazu et al., 2010; Pilu et al., 2014; Barrero et al., 2015; Canavan et al., 2017; Evangelistella et al., 2017; Malone et al., 2017; Valli et al., 2017 |
| Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) | Herbaceous | 15 | N.A. | Pocienë et al., 2013; Lord, 2015 |
| Virginia mallow (Sida hermaphrodita) | Herbaceous | 9-20 | N.A. | Borkowska et al., 2009; Franzaring et al., 2014 |
| Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) | Herbaceous | 7-15 | Genetic maps; marker arrays; QTLs for yield, biomass production, earliness | Acquadro et al., 2005; Lanteri et al., 2006, 2012; Angelini et al., 2009; Portis et al., 2009, 2012, 2014; Sonnante et al., 2011; Scaglione et al., 2012; Mauromicale et al., 2014; Martin et al., 2015; Francaviglia et al., 2016 |
| Agave (Agave spp.) | Herbaceous | 1-34 | RAPD marker array; transcriptomic sequences | Vega et al., 2001; Davis et al., 2011; Gross et al., 2013 |
| Tall wheatgrass (Thino pyrum ponticum) | Herbaceous | 3-11 | N.A. | Wang et al., 2010, 2014; Pearson et al., 2015 |
| Bamboo (Bambusa balcooa) | Herbaceous | 40-50 | N.A. | Kuehl, 2015 |
| Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) | Herbaceous | 7-13 | N.A. | Šiaudinis et al., 2015 |
| Common reed (Phragmites australis) | Herbaceous | 10-18 | N.A. | Hansson and Fredriksson, 2004; Baute et al., 2018 |
| Spanish broom (Spartium junceum L.) | Herbaceous | 18 | Studies on the genetics underneath adaptive traits for growth on steep soils | Angelini et al., 2000; Scippa et al., 2005; Di Michele et al., 2006 |
| Nettle (Urtica dioica L.) | Herbaceous | 6-15 | Expression study of SUS genes related to fiber synthesis and quality | Hartl and Vogl, 2002; Bacci et al., 2009; Backes et al., 2018 |
| Poplar (Populus spp.) | Woody tree | 7-28 | Genome sequence; genetic maps based on different types of molecular markers; QTLs for plant growth, morphology, phenology, root growth, biomass yield, cell wall quality, wood composition | Bradshaw et al., 1994; Bradshaw and Stettler, 1995; Wu, 1998; Wu et al., 2000; Cervera et al., 2001; Yin et al., 2004; Zhang et al., 2004, 2006, 2009; Tuskan et al., 2006; Gaudet et al., 2008; Rae et al., 2008; Pakull et al., 2009; Ranjan et al., 2010; Zegada-Lizarazu et al., 2018 |
| Willow (Salix spp.) | Woody tree | 5-30 | Genome sequenced; genetic maps; QTLs for growth, biomass yield, cold tolerance, drought tolerance, plant phenology, enzymatic saccharification | Hanley et al., 2002; Tsarouhas et al., 2002, 2004; Ronnberg-Wastljung et al., 2003; Rönnberg-Wästljung et al., 2005; Hanley et al., 2006; Aylott et al., 2008; Brereton et al., 2010; Zegada-Lizarazu et al., 2010; Berlin et al., 2014; Gabrielle et al., 2014; Talukder and Saha, 2017 |
| Black locust (Robinia pseudacacia) | Woody tree | 10 | N.A. | Amaducci et al., 2017 |
| Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) | Woody tree | 10-26 | Genome sequenced; transcriptomic sequences; genetic maps; QTLs for plant growth, wood quality, lignin biosynthesis, vegetative propagation | Grattapaglia and Sederoff, 1994; Grattapaglia et al., 1995, 1996; Marques et al., 1998, 2002; Thamarus et al., 2002; Kirst et al., 2004; Brondani et al., 2006; Freeman et al., 2009; Myburg et al., 2011, 2014; Zegada-Lizarazu et al., 2018 |
| Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila L.) | Woody tree | 5-19 | Chloroplast genome sequenced; breeding efforts targeting resistance to Dutch Elm Disease and wood quality | Santini et al., 2004; Geyer et al., 2007; Lamers and Khamzina, 2008; Perez et al., 2014; Zuo et al., 2017 |
| Wild tobacco (Nicotiana glauca Graham) | Woody tree | 3-9 | Expression study under drought stress; investigation of the genetic basis of metal tolerance | Curt and Fernández, 1990; Smart et al., 2001; Shingu et al., 2005 |