North Carolina researchers find stress can turn off wood formation

In North Carolina, the same process plants use to respond to environmental stress acts as an on/off switch for a key enzyme in wood formation, NC State researchers have found. The discovery improves scientists’ understanding of how lignin, which gives wood its strength and ability to transport water, is formed in plants and how it can be altered for biofuel, pulp and paper production, which require costly lignin removal with harsh chemicals. The findings from the Forest Biotechnology Group, led by Vincent Chiang and Ron Sederoff, appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.