A group composed of researchers from several universities identified a Cα-dehydrogenase from Sphingobium sp. Strain SYK-6 which introduces chemically labile substructures into lignin, allowing to chemically degrade the product under milder conditions. The expression of this enzyme into Arabidopsis plants led to easier degradable lignin and may be a model for obtaining biomass from trees which is easier degraded.

Yukiko TSUJI et al., Plant Biotechnology Journal 2015, DOI: 10.1111/pbi.12316