The aim of the project is to identify corn varieties that can be used for the processing of whole plants into usable energy sources from their lignocellulosic biomass and unravel the genetic basis for lignocellulose biosynthesis in maize. The challenge is to overcome the resistance of the lignocellulosic cell walls against enzymatic degradation. Since the degradation resistance varies between maize varieties, it is possible to breed varieties with optimized composition and degradability of their lignocellulosic biomass, which significantly reduces processing costs and energy consumption. Sequencing the genomes of such varieties at IBG-4 is the key to identify genetic markers that will be useful for future plant breeding.