A new study shows how plants 'encode' specific chemistries of their lignin to grow tall and sustain climate changes: each plant cell uses different combinations of the enzymes LACCASEs to create ...

A new study shows that we can create and/or select plants that can better recover from drought without affecting the size of the plant or seed yield by genetically modifying their lignin chemistry.

A new book details how lignin once protected algae from UV radiation, then later in evolutionary time became a structural support for trees. The following is an excerpt from When the Earth Was Green: ...

It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. In this case, the “job” is the breakdown of lignin, the structural biopolymer that gives stems, bark and branches their signature woodiness. One of the ...

Scientists have found a way to break down the tough lignin in plant material using anaerobic fungi. This breakthrough provides a new path for accessing valuable plant fibers that can be used to ...

It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. In this case, the 'job' is the breakdown of lignin, the structural biopolymer that gives stems, bark and branches their signature woodiness. One of the ...

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that a protein responsible for the synthesis of a key plant material evolved much earlier than ...

Ruminants like goats, cows and sheep host anaerobic microbes that can break through tough plant cell walls to gain the nutrition behind them. Credit: UC Santa Barbara Ruminants like goats, cows and ...