The bacterial BcsA-B cellulose synthase synthesizes cellulose II when immobilized on nickel surfaces. To explore how lignin interacts with cellulose, lignin was polymerized either during or after cellulose formation from surface immobilized BcsA-B, leading to significant alterations in cellulose and lignin morphology. To facilitate lignin detection, polymerized coniferyl alcohol monolignols were detected by lignin autofluorescence. This compound was previously demonstrated as a suitable lignin monolignol exhibiting autofluorescence that enables lignin detection even at low concentrations. Cellulose and lignin coated nickel surfaces were studied under confocal microscopy, as well as by atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). As a consequence of simultaneous lignin and cellulose deposition on the surface, cellulose microfibril morphology was altered. XRD data indicated that cellulose crystal size was significantly decreased by polymerized lignin incorporation, suggesting that simultaneous lignin polymerization prevents the proper assembly of cellulose microfibrils. In contrast, polymerizing lignin after cellulose synthesis yielded a cellulose that was very similar in character to control (lignin-free) samples in terms of crystal morphology.

细菌BcsA-B纤维素合酶在固定在镍表面上时会合成纤维素II。为了探索木质素如何与纤维素相互作用，木质素在表面固定的BcsA-B形成纤维素的过程中或之后聚合，从而导致纤维素和木质素形态发生重大变化。为了促进木质素的检测，通过木质素自发荧光检测了聚合的松柏油醇单木酚。先前已证明该化合物为合适的木质素单木质醇，其表现出自发荧光，即使在低浓度下也能检测木质素。共聚焦显微镜，原子力显微镜和X射线衍射法（XRD）对纤维素和木质素涂层的镍表面进行了研究。由于木质素和纤维素同时沉积在表面上，纤维素微纤维形态发生改变。XRD数据表明，通过聚合的木质素掺入，纤维素晶体的尺寸显着减小，表明同时的木质素聚合阻止了纤维素微原纤维的正确组装。相反，在纤维素合成后聚合木质素产生的纤维素在晶体形态方面与对照样品（不含木质素）非常相似。