IS THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF LIGNINS CONTROLLED BY GENES OR PHYSICO-CHEMICAL FACTORS? Lignins Self-Assembled Fractal Cluster Structures as an Interface of Genetical and Physicochemical Regulation Factors Janis Gravitis Latvian State Insitute of Wood Chemistry Riga, Latvia, e-mail: jgravit@edi.lv

A structural scheme for softwood lignin showing branch points and chain breakage and the b-1 structure according to G. Brunov

By the way, our task is to use new general concepts (De Gennes, Mandelbrot) in lignin science (scaling, fractal geometry, universal classes, etc.) to characterize global macromolecular lignin structure independently from from biological or pfysical control. Comparing experimental scaling indexes of lignins, humic substances, coals and high molecular weight fossil oil compounds we could elucidate carbon materials genesis in nature. Unique, real lignin structure in situ is biologically, spin-, electron-density and stereo-chemically regulated and in this meaning deterministic. However, impossible replication of identical copies of existing structures in vivo or in vitro gives us a strong evidence of statistically averaged lignins. In principle, future genetically based manipulations can create structurally homogeneous and linear “lignin” chains. Although such manipulation is attractive from, for instance, paramount interest of industry, this artificial bifurcation consequences and threats for living systems are not clear. No doubt that lignin is a self-organizing, ordered chaos structure in self-adopting plant cell wall evolution.