NOVELTY - A nucleic acid molecule capable of hybridizing to one of 18 (840-1198) base pair sequences (SEQ ID NOs: 36-70) (even numbers) all fully defined in the specification under conditions of 1X saline sodium citrate (SSC) and at 65 degrees C and encodes a polypeptide having cinnamoyl-CoA reductase activity, is new.    USE - The nucleic acid molecule is useful in recombinant vector for producing transgenic plant and seed used for producing commodity product chosen from paper, paper pulp, ethanol, butanol, biodiesel, biogas, silage, carbon fiber, animal feed and fermentable biofuel feedstock. The method (M4) is useful for increasing level or availability of one or more fermentable carbohydrates in biofuel crop species plant, decreasing lignin content in plant or increasing digestibility of forage crop. The plant is switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), giant reed (Arundo donax), reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea), Miscanthus giganteus, Miscanthus sp., Lespedeza cuneata, corn, sugarcane, Sorghum, millet, Lolium multiflorum, Lolium sp., timothy, Kochia scoparia, soybean, Alfalfa, clover, sunn hemp, kenaf, Bahia grass, Bermuda grass, dallisgrass, pangola grass, big bluestem, Indian grass, Festuca sp., Dactylis sp., Brachypodium distachyon, smooth bromegrass, orchard grass, Kentucky bluegrass, tomato or poplar plant (all claimed).    ADVANTAGE - The nucleic acid molecule has wide application in industry for producing biofuels.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - A nucleic acid molecule chosen from (a) nucleic acid sequence capable of hybridizing to one of 18 (840-1198) base pair sequences (SEQ ID NOs: 36-70) (even numbers) all fully defined in the specification under conditions of 1X saline sodium citrate (SSC) and at 65 degrees C and encodes a polypeptide having cinnamoyl-CoA reductase activity, (b) nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide exhibiting at least 85% identity to one of 18 (279-364) amino acid sequences (SEQ ID NOs: 37-71) (odd numbers) all fully defined in the specification, and having cinnamoyl-CoA reductase activity, (c) nucleic acid sequence exhibiting at least 85% identity to base pair sequence of SEQ ID NO: 36-70 (even numbers) and encoding a polypeptide with cinnamoyl-CoA reductase activity, and (d) complementary base pair sequence of the nucleic acid sequence which is operably linked to heterologous promoter, is new. INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for the following:    (1) recombinant vector comprising the above-cited nucleic acid molecule;    (2) isolated polypeptide exhibiting at least 85% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 37-71 (odd numbers) or its fragment and having cinnamoyl-CoA reductase activity;    (3) transgenic plant (T1) transformed with the nucleic acid molecule;    (4) plant portion (P1) comprising the nucleic acid molecule;    (5) seed comprising the nucleic acid molecule;    (6) cell transformed with nucleic acid sequence containing the nucleic acid molecule;    (7) method (M1) of increasing lignin content in a plant, involves expressing the nucleic acid molecule in the plant;    (8) method (M2) of preparing a transgenic plant (T2), involves transforming a plant cell with the nucleic acid molecule and regenerating the plant;    (9) plant portion (P2) prepared by the method (M2);    (10) method (M3) of preparing commodity product, involves obtaining the transgenic plant, growing the plant under plant growth conditions to produce plant tissue from the plant, and preparing a commodity product from the plant tissue;    (11) plant (T3) comprising down-regulated CCR2 gene where the plant exhibits reduced lignin content;    (12) plant part (P3) of the plant (T3);    (13) biofuel feedstock comprising the nucleic acid molecule; and    (14) method (M4) of increasing level or availability of one or more fermentable carbohydrates in a biofuel crop species plant, decreasing the lignin content in plant or increasing digestibility of forage crop, involves down-regulating CCR2 gene expression in the plant.