Rumen microbial degradation of modified lignin plants observed by electron microscopy

摘要

The microbial degradation of modified lignin tobacco (Samson variety) plants (homozygous line 40), produced by genetic engineering was studied by microscopy. Fourteen-week-old tobaccos plants, grown in a greenhouse, were used for the study. The modification inhibited the expression of the cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) gene. This enzyme (CAD) catalyses the reduction of the cinnamyl aldehydes to the corresponding cinnamyl alcohols which are the direct monomeric precursors of the lignin. Only the stems were studied. They were cut into three equal parts : the top, middle and bottom internodes.