Feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase
AssigneesBoard of Trustees of Michigan State University, The University of British Columbia, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
InventorsCurtis Wilkerson, John Ralph, Saunia Withers, Shawn D. Mansfield
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Abstract
The invention relates to nucleic acids encoding a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase and the feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase enzyme that enables incorporation of monolignol ferulates, for example, including p-coumaryl ferulate, coniferyl ferulate, and sinapyl ferulate, into the lignin of plants.
Claims20
A transgenic poplar plant comprising an isolated nucleic acid encoding a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase comprising a DNA sequence with SEQ ID NO:
- 1.
A fertile transgenic poplar plant having an increased percent of monolignol ferulates in the plant's lignin, the genome of which is stably transformed by a nucleic acid comprising a DNA sequence with SEQ ID NO:1, wherein the nucleic acid is operably linked to a promoter functional in a host cell, and wherein the feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase nucleic acid is transmitted through a complete normal sexual cycle of the transgenic plant to the next generation.
A method of making a product from a poplar plant comprising:
- (a) providing a poplar plant that includes an isolated nucleic acid encoding a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase comprising a DNA sequence with SEQ ID NO:1;
- and
- (b) processing the poplar plant's tissues under conditions sufficient to digest the lignin;
- and thereby generate the product from the poplar plant,
- wherein the poplar plant's tissues comprise lignin having an increased percent of monolignol ferulates relative to a corresponding untransformed plant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.