Scientists from the University of York and University of Dundee (United Kingdom) report the development of a "robust and reliable high throughput (HT) assay for biomass digestibility", which can be used to screen the large numbers of samples involved in biomass recalcitrance studies in potential biofuel feedstocks. Overcoming "biomass recalcitrance" is a major hurdle in the commercial development of biomass-to-ethanol conversion process from lignocellulosic (second generation) feedstocks. Lignocellulosic biomass must be made more digestible in order for it to become ethanol-fermentable. This involves the (1) destruction of its well ordered structure and tough lignin coating, (2) breakdown (or "saccharification") of its complex carbohydrates into fermentable sugars. A fundamental understanding of gene function and enzymatic mechanisms of biomass recalcitrance in plants, is one area of study which can help in the development of "tailored-feedstocks" with good biomass digestibility. It could also help in the development of more effective processes which improve biomass digestibility. According to the UK researchers, "the development of high throughput (HT) methods of screening for phenotypic and biochemical alterations in plants has played an important role in identifying the functions of genes and enzymes in specific pathways in plants and other organisms. However, the analysis of large populations of plants for cell wall digestibility is time consuming, labour intensive and expensive". They developed an analytical platform that can perform saccharification analysis in a 96-well plate format, and can allow the screening of lignocellulose digestibility of large populations of samples from varied plant species. They validated the method using transgenic tobacco with altered lignin, and demonstrated its reliability and reproducibility. The full results are published in the open-access journal, Biotechnology for Biofuels (URL above).