Cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR) is responsible for the first committed reaction in monolignol biosynthesis, which diverts phenylpropanoid-derived metabolites into the biosynthesis of lignin. To gain a better understanding of the lion biosynthesis in wheat development, two cDNAs encoding CCR were identified from wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. H4564). DNA sequence analyses indicated that the two cDNAs represent two classes of CCR. RT-PCR and Northern blot hybridization demonstrated that one of them, W-cr6, was expressed actively in stem and leaf tissue, the other one, W-cr19, was expressed in root and stem tissue. The results suggested that there are at least two genes encoded for CCR existing in wheat genome.
