White Rot Fungi Slowed Coal Formation
Thursday, June 28, 2012 - 14:30
in Biology & Nature
A toughened crosshatch of carbon-based molecules is all that stands between plants and their total destruction at the hands of an array of microbes and fungi. Called lignin , the compound enables redwoods to tower and woody herbs to resist rot. As a result, lignin is the second-most abundant biological compound on the planet--and the bane of would-be biofuel-makers everywhere, blocking their best efforts to make fuels from the inedible parts of plants. It is also the reason for the vast deposits of coal laid down millions of years ago. [More]
