Fig. 5.

Lignin is highly hydrophobic and dynamically distinct from polysaccharides. a Water-edited intensities showing the hydration level of molecules in maize. Error bars are standard deviations propagated from NMR sensitivity. The hydration level decreases in the order of three-fold xylan, 2-fold xylan, surface cellulose, interior cellulose and lignin. b ¹H-T_1ρ relaxation times of four plants detect molecular motions on the microsecond timescale. c ¹³C-T₁ relaxation times of hydrated (magenta) and dried (grey) maize reflect nanosecond timescale motions. Distinct from the polysaccharide, lignin has long ¹³C-T₁ but short ¹H-T_1ρ relaxation. Error bars are standard deviations of the fit parameters. The x-axis corresponds to well-resolved cross peaks or carbon sites as tabulated in Supplementary Table 7–10. Source Data are provided as a Source Data file