This Research Topic has been developed in collaboration with the Phytochemical Society of North America.

Dr. Richard A. Dixon, a distinguished professor at the University of North Texas, is an outstanding biochemist in plant secondary metabolism. He was awarded his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1976 at the University of Oxford. In 1988, he founded the Plant Biology Division at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and served as Director. His laboratory has contributed fundamental knowledge in the biosynthesis and metabolic engineering of lignin, proanthocyanidins, isoflavonoids, and others. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Inventors, and the Royal Society of the British United Kingdom. He has been recognized as a pioneer of the Phytochemical Society of North America and the American Society of Plant Biologists. Since 2002, he has been one of the top ten cited scientists in plant and animal sciences.

On behalf of the Phytochemical Society of North America, our goal is to celebrate Dr. Dixon’s retirement and to honor his outstanding achievements in biosynthesis and metabolic engineering of lignin for ruminant animal nutrition and biofuel. Our goal for this Research Topic is to expand on the use and application of lignin. Lignin is essential to the development and growth of vascular plants and their resilience in different stressful environments. The reduction and structural modification of lignin are keys to improving the digestibility of forage crops and producing biofuel from energy crops, such as switchgrass. New findings in uncharacterized genes, lignin structures, enzyme structures, regulation, and metabolic engineering will not only enhance the understanding of the biosynthesis of lignin and roles in plant development, but also expedite the translational steps of basic lignin research to valuable agricultural, biofuels, and nutritional products.

We encourage submissions on the following sub-themes:

1. Biosynthesis and metabolic engineering of lignin
2. Manipulation of lignin for animal nutrition and for biofuel production
3. Ecological significance of lignin in plant resilience to climate change

Contributors are encouraged to submit original research articles, method articles, mini reviews, and review articles.

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Frontiers in Plant Science

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