Journal
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
Volume 285, Issue 50, Pages 38961-38968Publisher
AMER SOC BIOCHEMISTRY MOLECULAR BIOLOGY INC
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M110.137315
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- Bioenergy Science Center
- Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the Department of Energy Office of Science
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The lignin content of biomass can impact the ease and cost of biomass processing. Lignin reduction through breeding and genetic modification therefore has potential to reduce costs in biomass-processing industries (e. g. pulp and paper, forage, and lignocellulosic ethanol). We investigated compositional changes in two low-lignin alfalfa (Medicago sativa) lines with antisense down-regulation of p-coumarate 3-hydroxylase (C3H) or hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:shikimate hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HCT). We investigated whether the difference in reactivity during lignification of 4-coumaryl alcohol (H) monomers versus the naturally dominant sinapyl alcohol and coniferyl alcohol lignin monomers alters the lignin structure. Sequential base extraction readily reduced the H monomer content of the transgenic lines, leaving a residual lignin greatly enriched in H subunits; the extraction profile highlighted the difference between the control and transgenic lines. Gel permeation chromatography of isolated ball-milled lignin indicated significant changes in the weight average molecular weight distribution of the control versus transgenic lines (CTR1a, 6000; C3H4a, 5500; C3H9a, 4000; and HCT30a, 4000).
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