Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #102719
Title: ARYLPROPANE-1,3-DIOLS IN LIGNINS FROM NORMAL AND CAD-DEFICIENT PINES

Author
item Ralph, John
item KIM, HOON - UNIV OF WISCONSIN MADISON
item PENG, JUNPENG - UNIV OF WISCONSIN MADISON
item LU, FACHUANG - UNIV OF WISCONSIN MADISON
item MACKAY, JOHN - IPST, ATLANTA, GA
item SEDEROFF, RONALD - NC STATE UNIV, RALEIGH NC

Submitted to: Organic Letters
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/25/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Mutant plants provide useful insights into the biochemical processes occurring in normal plants. In this work, we discovered a new component of lignin, the polymer that holds fibers together in woody and forage plants. The component is now detectable in low amounts in normal plants, but is a major component of the lignin from a pine mutant which is deficient in the last enzyme in the lignin biosynthetic pathway. Its importance lies less i the structure itself than in what it tells us about the process of lignification. Plants are able to incorporate substantial amounts of components that are not normally considered to be precursors of lignins. This means that breeding or biogenetic engineering can be used to enhance these components if they are found to be of value. Such studies are at the heart of efforts to improve the utilization of valuable plant resources in processes ranging from digestion of forages by ruminants to industrial paper production by chemical pulping.

Technical Abstract: Significant quantities of arylpropane-1,3-diols have been identified in lignins isolated from a CAD-deficient pine mutant; smaller amounts are also present in lignins from normal pine. They arise from dihydroconiferyl alcohol via the action of peroxidases which are responsible for the radical generation steps of lignification. The structures in the complex lignin polymers are proven using 2D and 3D NMR of isolated lignin fractions.