A Purdue University (United States) new release reports that their scientists have "found the last undiscovered gene responsible for the production of the amino acid phenylalanine, a discovery that could lead to processes to control the amino acid to boost plants' nutritional values and produce better biofuel feedstocks". Phenylalanine is an amino acid which is said to be important for the production of flower scent, anti-oxidants, and lignin (a component of plant cell walls which contributes to rigidity and structural integrity of the plant). From the biofuels production point of view, the interest in the discovery of this gene is in the possible development of "tailored bioenergy crops" with low lignin content. A low-lignin feedstock can lower the cost of cellulose ethanol production, by decreasing the pretreatment requirements necessary for delignification. "Decreasing phenylalanine could lead to a reduction in lignin, which would improve digestibility of cellulosic materials for ethanol production". On the other side, increasing phenylalanine could boost the nutritional value of some foods. A technical paper reporting the findings are published in the Nature Chemical Biology Journal (URL above).