Designer lignins: harnessing the plasticity of lignification

- Plant lignification is highly plastic.
- Designer lignins may satisfy biological requirements while reducing recalcitrance.
- Engineered lignins may be shorter, less hydrophobic, or have fewer bonds to hemicelluloses.
- Novel chemically labile backbone bonds in lignin may be easily cleaved during processing.
- Lignins could be designed to produce high-value products.