Feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase

1. An isolated cDNA nucleic acid encoding a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase polypeptide, wherein the cDNA comprises SEQ ID NO: 1, or wherein the cDNA encodes a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase polypeptide with SEQ ID NO: 2, or wherein the cDNA encodes a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO: 2 with conservative amino acid changes to SEQ ID NO: 2.

2. The isolated cDNA nucleic acid of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid encodes a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase that can catalyze the synthesis of monolignol ferulate(s) from monolignol(s) and feruloyl-CoA.

3. The isolated cDNA nucleic acid of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid encodes a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase polypeptide with a SEQ ID NO:2 sequence.

4. The isolated cDNA nucleic acid of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid encodes a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase that can catalyze the synthesis of monolignol ferulate(s) from monolignol(s) and feruloyl-CoA with at least 50% of the activity of a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase with the SEQ ID NO:2.

5. A transgenic plant cell comprising the isolated cDNA nucleic acid of claim 1 .

6. A transgenic plant or plant seed comprising the isolated cDNA nucleic acid of any of claim 1 .

7. An expression cassette comprising the feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase cDNA nucleic acid of claim 1 operably linked to a promoter functional in a host cell.

8. The expression cassette of claim 7 , wherein the expression cassette is within an expression vector.

9. The expression cassette of claim 7 , wherein the promoter is a promoter functional during plant development or growth.

10. The expression cassette of claim 7 , wherein the promoter is a xylem-specific secondary cell wall specific cellulose synthase 8 promoter, cauliflower mosaic virus promoter, Z10 promoter from a gene encoding a 10 kD zein protein, Z27 promoter from a gene encoding a 27 kD zein protein, pea rbcS gene or actin promoter from rice.

11. A plant cell comprising the expression cassette of claim 7 .

12. The plant cell of claim 11 , wherein the plant cell is a monocot cell.

13. The plant cell of claim 11 , wherein the plant cell is a maize, grass or softwood cell.

14. The plant cell of claim 11 , wherein the plant cell is a dicot cell.

15. The plant cell of claim 11 , wherein the plant cell is a hardwood cell.

16. A plant or plant seed comprising the expression cassette of claim 7 .

17. The plant or plant seed of claim 16 , wherein the plant or plant seed is a monocot.

18. The plant or plant seed of claim 16 , wherein the plant or plant seed is a grass, maize or softwood.

19. The plant or plant seed of claim 16 , wherein the plant or plant seed is a gymnosperm.

20. The plant or plant seed of claim 16 , wherein the plant or plant seed is a dicot.

21. The plant or plant seed of claim 16 , wherein the dicot is a hardwood.

22. A method for incorporating monolignol ferulates into lignin of a plant, comprising:

a) stably transforming plant cells with the expression cassette of claim 7 to generate transformed plant cells;

b) regenerating the transformed plant cells into at least one transgenic plant, wherein feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase is expressed in at least one transgenic plant, to thereby incorporate monolignol ferulates into the lignin of the transgenic plant.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the transgenic plant is fertile.

24. The method of claim 22 , further comprising recovering transgenic seeds from the transgenic plant, wherein the transgenic seeds comprise the cDNA nucleic acid encoding a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase.

25. The method of claim 22 , wherein the plant is a monocot.

26. The method of claim 22 , wherein the plant is a grass, maize or softwood plant.

27. The method of claim 22 , wherein the plant is a gymnosperm.

28. The method of claim 22 , wherein the plant is a dicot.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the dicot plant is a hardwood.

30. The method of claim 22 , wherein the lignin in the plant comprises about 1-30% monolignol ferulate.

31. The method of claim 23 , further comprising breeding the transgenic plant to yield a progeny plant that has an increase in the percentage of monolignol ferulates in the lignin of the progeny plant relative to a corresponding untransformed plant, and wherein said progeny plant comprises said expression cassette.

32. The method of claim 23 , further comprising breeding the fertile transgenic plant to yield a progeny plant that has an increase in the percentage of monolignol ferulates in the lignin of the progeny plant as a dominant trait while still maintaining functional agronomic characteristics relative to a corresponding untransformed plant, and wherein said progeny plant comprises said expression cassette.

33. A fertile transgenic plant having an increased percent of monolignol ferulates in the plant's lignin, the genome of which is stably transformed by the nucleic acid of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid is operably linked to a promoter functional in a host cell, and wherein the feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase nucleic acid is transmitted through a complete normal sexual cycle of the transgenic plant to the next generation.

34. The plant of claim 33 , wherein the plant is a monocot.

35. The plant of claim 33 , wherein the plant is a grass, maize or softwood.

36. The plant of claim 33 , wherein the plant is a gymnosperm.

37. The plant of claim 33 , wherein the plant is a dicot.

38. The plant of claim 33 , wherein the percent of monolignol ferulates in the plant's lignin is increased relative to the corresponding untransformed plant.

39. The plant of claim 33 , wherein the percent of monolignol ferulates in the plant's lignin is increased by at least 1% relative to the corresponding untransformed plant.

40. The plant of claim 33 , wherein the percent of monolignol ferulates in the plant's lignin is increased by at least 2-5% relative to the corresponding untransformed plant.

41. The plant of claim 33 , wherein the lignin in the plant comprises about 1-30% monolignol ferulates.

42. A method of making a product from a transgenic plant comprising:

(a) providing a transgenic plant that includes an isolated nucleic acid encoding a feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase comprising the isolated nucleic acid of claim 1 ; and

(b) processing the transgenic plant's tissues under conditions sufficient to digest the lignin; and thereby generate the product from the transgenic plant,

wherein the transgenic plant's tissues comprise lignin having an increased percent of monolignol ferulates relative to a corresponding untransformed plant.

43. The method of claim 42 , wherein the conditions sufficient to digest the lignin comprise conditions sufficient to cleave ester bonds within monolignol ferulate-containing lignin.

44. The method of claim 42 , wherein the conditions sufficient to digest the lignin comprise mildly alkaline conditions.

45. The method of claim 42 , wherein the conditions sufficient to digest the lignin comprise contacting the transgenic plant's tissues with ammonia for a time and a temperature sufficient to cleave ester bonds within monolignol ferulate-containing lignin.

46. The method of claim 42 , wherein the conditions sufficient to digest the lignin would not cleave substantially any of the ether and carbon-carbon bonds in lignin from a corresponding plant that does not contain the isolated nucleic acid encoding the feruloyl-CoA:monolignol transferase.

47. The transgenic plant or plant seed of claim 6 , wherein the plant or plant seed is a eucalyptus plant or plant seed.

48. The transgenic plant or plant seed of claim 16 , wherein the plant or plant seed is a eucalyptus plant or plant seed.

49. The cDNA of claim 1 , where the any amino acid differences in the polypeptide are conservative amino acid substitutions.