Publication Date:
2014-04-05
Description:
Redesigning lignin, the aromatic polymer fortifying plant cell walls, to be more amenable to chemical depolymerization can lower the energy required for industrial processing. We have engineered poplar trees to introduce ester linkages into the lignin polymer backbone by augmenting the monomer pool with monolignol ferulate conjugates. Herein, we describe the isolation of a transferase gene capable of forming these conjugates and its xylem-specific introduction into poplar. Enzyme kinetics, in planta expression, lignin structural analysis, and improved cell wall digestibility after mild alkaline pretreatment demonstrate that these trees produce the monolignol ferulate conjugates, export them to the wall, and use them during lignification. Tailoring plants to use such conjugates during cell wall biosynthesis is a promising way to produce plants that are designed for deconstruction.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Wilkerson, C G -- Mansfield, S D -- Lu, F -- Withers, S -- Park, J-Y -- Karlen, S D -- Gonzales-Vigil, E -- Padmakshan, D -- Unda, F -- Rencoret, J -- Ralph, J -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Apr 4;344(6179):90-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1250161.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24700858" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Acyltransferases/*chemistry/*genetics/isolation & purification
;
Angelica sinensis/enzymology/genetics
;
Cell Wall/chemistry/metabolism
;
Coumaric Acids/metabolism
;
Genes, Plant
;
Lignin/*chemistry/*metabolism
;
Molecular Structure
;
Plant Roots/enzymology
;
Plants, Genetically Modified/genetics/growth & development
;
Populus/*genetics/growth & development/*metabolism
;
Trees/genetics/metabolism
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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