Methods for increasing the yield of fermentable sugars from plant stover

A method of increasing yield of fermentable sugars in a plant stover, comprising:

• producing a plant stover from a plant comprising a mutation in a first gene that results in a reduction in cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase activity and further comprising a mutation in a second gene that results in a reduction in 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde/5-hydroxyconiferyl alcohol O-methyltransferase activity;
• and
• treating the plant stover with a cellulolytic enzyme to produce a fermentable sugar.

A method of increasing the yield of fermentable sugars in a plant stover, comprising:

• producing a plant stover from a transgenic plant with a reduced cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase activity and reduced 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde/5-hydroxyconiferyl alcohol O-methyltransferase activity in comparison with a wild-type plant grown under substantially similar conditions;
• and
• treating the plant stover with a cellulolytic enzyme to produce a fermentable sugar.