Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of Populus trichocarpa can be used to capture casual alleles controlling yield, sustainability, robustness, and cell wall phenotypes. In this work, we have analyzed over 150 natural variants of Populus trichocarpa to elucidate lignin structure and interunit linkages. Lignin was isolated by enzymatic hydrolysis and dissolved in DMSOd6 for analysis by 2D HSQC NMR. Correlations between monolignol content, relative interunit linkage abundance, and available sugar release data were then analyzed. Notably, p-hydroxyl phenol (H) was found to be correlated with guaiacyl (G), S/G ratio, and could also be considered to correlate with syringyl (S) and glucose release, depending on the p-value considered. The S/G ratio was correlated with monolignol composition, but was not found to be correlated with β-O-4 or β-β interunit linkages. Antioxidant properties of lignin will also be reported.

Elucidating lignin structure and relationships from naturally variant Populus trichocarpa

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.