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Loosening lignin's grip on biofuel production

Nature Biotechnology volume 25, pages 746–748 (2007)Cite this article

Reducing lignin content in alfalfa can increase ethanol yields and decrease processing inputs.

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Figure 1: Reduced lignin content can increase yields of fermentable sugars after pretreatment of plant biomass with hot acid and can also reduce or eliminate the need for this step.

Kim Caesar

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clint Chapple is in the Department of Biochemistry, 175 S. University Street, West Lafayette, IN 47902-2063, USA. chapple@purdue.edu,

    Clint Chapple

  2. Michael Ladisch is in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and the Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering, 500 Central Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1295, USA. ladisch@purdue.edu,

    Michael Ladisch

  3. Rick Meilan is in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, 715 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2061, USA. rmeilan@purdue.edu,

    Rick Meilan

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  1. Clint Chapple
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Chapple, C., Ladisch, M. & Meilan, R. Loosening lignin's grip on biofuel production. Nat Biotechnol 25, 746–748 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0707-746

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