Abstract
Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) catalyses the last step in the biosynthesis of the lignin precursors, which is the conversion of cinnamaldehydes into cinnamyl alcohols. A poplar (P. trichocarpa x P. deltoides)CAD cDNA was introduced in sense and in antisense orientation into P. tremula x P. alba via an Agrobacterium- mediated transformation. The CAD activity was reduced by 70% in the xylem tissue of three antisense and two co-suppressed lines. A red coloration of the xylem was detected in all poplar lines with a residual CAD activity of less than 60 %. The lignin content and the lignin composition (syringyl/guaiacyl) were similar in co-suppressed, antisense CAD and control lines. However, chemical properties of the cell wall were different. First, a phloroglucinol staining showed a different coloration in the xylem of the down-regulated CAD poplars, being red-brown as compared to the typical pink staining of the control xylem. Second, after NaOH treatment, lignin could be precipitated by acidification of the alkali-soluble fraction of the cell wall of the red poplars but not of that of the white poplars. A spectral characterisation of the alkali fraction from red poplars showed an increased level of vanillin and syringaldehyde. Third, pulping experiments showed less residual lignin in the pulp of CAD down-regulated poplars.
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© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Baucher, M. et al. (1996). Higher Extractability of Lignin in Poplar (Populus Tremula x P. Alba) by Reducing Cinnamyl Alcohol Dehydrogenase Activity. In: Ahuja, M.R., Boerjan, W., Neale, D.B. (eds) Somatic Cell Genetics and Molecular Genetics of Trees. Forestry Sciences, vol 49. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3983-0_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3983-0_21
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