Brookhaven creates new enzyme to help with cellulosic process

In New York state, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have created a new enzyme that effectively “masks” the synthetic precursors of lignin, a plant cell wall component that makes plant biomass particularly difficult to break down. When it was expressed in plants, this enzyme substantially reduced lignin content in the cell wall and increased the digestibility of cell wall biomass, which should make it easier to convert plant biomass into biofuels. A paper describing the research will be published in The Plant Cell on July 31, 2012.