Alteration of Cellulose Formation in Plants

In addition to its role as the primary determinant of tissue strength, a trait that is of significant interest in agriculture, cellulose constitutes the most abundant renewable energy resource on Earth. More than 200 million metric tons of stover is produced just from maize in the USA every year. About one-third of this could potentially be utilized for ethanol production (Kadam and McMillan 2003). The worldwide production of lignocellulosic wastes from cereal stover and straw is estimated to be 3 billion tons per year (Kuhad 

Korrigan was originally identified as an extremely dwarf mutant with a lesion in a plasma membrane-associated P-l,4-endoglucanase (Nicol et al. 1998). The Korrigan protein is believed to be involved in the cellulose synthase complex that functions during primary or secondary wall formation (Nicol et al. 1998 Molhoj et al. 2002 Szyjanowicz et al. 2004). Its exact function remains to be determined although given its relationship to the cellulase type of hydrolases, it has been 

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