title: Monolignol ferulate conjugates are naturally incorporated into plant lignins.
abstract: Angiosperms represent most of the terrestrial plants and are the primary research focus for the conversion of biomass to liquid fuels and coproducts. Lignin limits our access to fibers and represents a large fraction of the chemical energy stored in plant cell walls. Recently, the incorporation of monolignol ferulates into lignin polymers was accomplished via the engineering of an exotic transferase into commercially relevant poplar. We report that various angiosperm species might have convergently evolved to natively produce lignins that incorporate monolignol ferulate conjugates. We show that this activity may be accomplished by a BAHD feruloyl-coenzyme A monolignol transferase,OsFMT1 (AT5), in rice and its orthologs in other monocots.
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA.; Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Steven D
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2044-8895
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Karlen
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
authors.forename: Chengcheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Peck
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA.; Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA.
authors.forename: Dharshana
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2916-0417
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Padmakshan
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA.; Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Kate E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Helmich
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.; School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Heather C A
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Free
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticultural Science, IFAS (Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences) Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 14625 County Road 672, Wimauma, FL 33598, USA.
authors.forename: Seonghee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Bronwen G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA.; Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Fachuang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790, USA.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sedbrook
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin UMR 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sibout
authors.affiliation: U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1925 Linden Drive West, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Grabber
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA.; Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Troy M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Runge
authors.affiliation: Plant Biology Division, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, OK 73401, USA.
authors.forename: Kirankumar S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Mysore
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Philip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8610-7551
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Bartley
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA.; Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6093-4521
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ralph
keywords: BAHD transferase; DFRC; GC-MS; Grasses; lignin; monocot; monolignol; phylogenetic tree; rice; transgenic