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Comparison between 10,000-year old and contemporary spruce lignin

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Abstract

Wood from white spruce Picea glauca that had been preserved by rapid burial in lake sediments 10,000 years ago, was investigated and compared to a contemporary reference white spruce wood. The 10,000-year old sample appeared to have an intact primary cell wall and middle lamella, whereas the carbohydrate monomer distribution, and microscopic images showed that the secondary wall was at least partially removed, indicating that this structure had been selectively attacked by bacteria. The Klason lignin amount in the aged spruce was found to be 60%. The relative lignin monomer content in the aged spruce was 9% lower than that of the reference wood, showing that there were fewer β-O-4′ linkages in the aged sample. This finding was supported by SEC analysis of the thioacidolysed samples as a larger proportion of lignin oligomers were observed in the aged spruce than in the reference material. This indicates a somewhat greater number of condensed bonds in the aged spruce than in the reference spruce sample. Quantitative 13C NMR analysis and HSQC techniques applied on milled wood lignins (MWL) revealed no significant structural differences between the aged spruce and the reference.

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Acknowledgments

Kurt S. Pregitzer, Michigan Technological University, USA, is thanked for the generous donation of the subfossil spruce wood. Vinnova and its industrial partners are thanked for financial support within the WURC research center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AstraZeneca Sweden Operations, Process Analytical Chemistry, 151 85, Södertälje, Sweden

    Maria Christiernin

  2. Department of Applied Mathematics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Shannon M. Notley

  3. Department of Fiber and Polymer Technology, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Liming Zhang & Gunnar Henriksson

  4. Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry, c/o Trätek, Stockholm, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Thomas Nilsson

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  1. Maria Christiernin
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  2. Shannon M. Notley
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  3. Liming Zhang
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  4. Thomas Nilsson
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  5. Gunnar Henriksson
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Correspondence to Gunnar Henriksson.

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Christiernin, M., Notley, S.M., Zhang, L. et al. Comparison between 10,000-year old and contemporary spruce lignin. Wood Sci Technol 43, 23–41 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-008-0222-5

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