Question: What is ligin synthesis and how does it affect the environment?

Yvette Wilson answered on 14 Jun 2010:

Lignin is made by plants to provide support in their stems (ie tree trunks) and vasculature (long vessels in the stem that transport water to the tops of plants). Plants convert an amino acid, phenylalanine, (which we all have in our cells) into a series of intermediate and then finally lignin molecules which then bind to each other and to the sugars in the cell wall. Lignin was probably essential in enabling plants to colonise land because of its role in support and water transport. Also, the intermediate molecules are used for defense and signallying by the plant. Its therefore quite difficult to alter lignin content without affecting the plant’s survival too seriously.
We would like to alter/reduce it slightly as to obtain fuel from straw expensive and environmentally unfriendly pretreatments have to be applied to the straw. normally the straw is treated by acid or steam explosion to break the lignin down to be able to use the sugars for fuel.