ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1646316
Simultaneous Regulation of Both Lignin and Cellulose Biosynthesis Modifies Xylem Fiber Properties in Populus
Provisionally accepted
- 1Yuelushan Laboratory, College of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, changsha, China
- 2Key Laboratory of Plant Carbon Capture, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai, China
- 3State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Virology and Biotechnology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China
- 4Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation in Southwest, State Forestry Administration, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
- 5Key Laboratory of Plant Carbon Capture, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
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Introduction: Wood is primarily made up of secondary xylem cell walls, with lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose as the main chemical components. The presence of lignin represents recalcitrance to wood pulping and biofuel conversion. Consequently, reducing lignin content is a key approach to improving wood properties and optimizing its processing.In this study, we suppressed lignin biosynthesis by overexpressing a mutated transcription repressor PdLTF1 AA and enhanced cellulose synthesis simultaneously by introducing cellulose synthase genes, PdCesA4, PdCesA7A, or PdCesA8A, specifically in xylem fiber cells.The transgenic plants exhibited decreased lignin content and a significant increase in cellulose content. Transcriptome analysis indicated that expression of PdLTF1 AA along with PdCesA4, PdCesA7A, or PdCesA8A in fiber cells resulted in transcriptional alterations in the genes associated with cell wall remodeling and polysaccharide synthesis during xylem development. The results also indicated that the diameter of wood fiber cells within the xylem is increased, which leads to a larger stem diameter in the transgenic plants. This study suggests that the biosynthesis of lignin and cellulose can be simultaneously modified, which presents a new strategy for modifying wood fiber characteristics for more efficient fiber and biomass processing.
Keywords: Lignin, Populus, Cellulose, Cell Wall, Fiber cell
Received: 13 Jun 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Han, Lu, Tang, Sun, Li and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Laigeng Li, Key Laboratory of Plant Carbon Capture, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
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