To increase both sugar yield and biomass production in the model plant Arabidopsis

To ease the industrial processing of plant biomass into energy, plants are engineered to contain less lignin. Unfortunately, this intervention typically leads to reduced yield. Researchers have now discovered a way to overcome this problem. Moreover, the strategy the researchers at the VIB-Ghent University Center for Plant Systems Biology does not just restore the biomass yield. It increases the yield beyond that of wildtype plants. The findings of their study are an important step in the development of feedstock for biofuels and other bio-based materials. The results are published in the leading scientific journal Plant Physiology.