Extreme physiology: Biomass and transcriptional profiling of three abandoned Agave cultivars

•Cultivars presented quantitative differences, not distinct strategies.•Differences in recalcitrance might be attributed to the lignin.•Lignification was detected only in the secondary cell wall of the xylem.•Agave accumulates raffinose, possibly as an osmolyte.•Stress-response genes were the most highly expressed transcripts.