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Lignin is a tough compound. By reducing the amount of lignin, but without reducing the plant’s ability to do other things (like produce seed or defend against disease), we will be able to break through the material of the plant (using enzymes). This will allow us to access the energy stored inside, but without using the part of the plant that is used to produce food. Once we have accessed this energy  we can use it to produce ethanol which is a biofuel used for many processes including powering cars.
 
I am working on a TILLING project (Targeted Induced Local Lesions in Genomes). This basically means that we introduce a mutatagen into a large batch of plants, harvest the material at specific points and superpool the DNA so we can look for point mutations (a chromosomal change at some single nucleotide of a gene). We want to look for mutations in our genes of interest (those in the lignin pathway)  and then use next generation sequencing to see what effect it has had on the lignin biosynthesis pathway.

Right now I am trying out different DNA extraction protocols to find which method will give me the most and the best quality DNA before we use this protocol for our main superpool. I have also had to plant my seeds in a logical order which are fully labelled so when I harvest material from the plants and store them on ice I will know exactly which sample comes from where. This is also important for when I come to analyse the DNA that has been extracted so we can looks back and see exactly which plant from which superpool may carry the information we need. Once this has happened we can collect the seed from this plant and grow more of the same (because they will carry the same genetic information).
Since we are growing plants that have been subjected to a mutagen we want to look for a useful mutation in the lignin biosynthesis pathway that will make it easier for us to extract the sugars, but this can be very hard to do so we will use a new technology called Next Generation Sequencing to see exactly what the mutation does to the plant. Because we don’t want to use a mutated plant that has negative effects in important areas such as seed production or disease resistance.