Fungal aid for biofuel production
14 Oct 2011 by Evoluted New Media
A fungus may help unlock the full potential of waste plant matter as a fuel source say an international team of researchers.
The researchers – including scientists from the Universities of York and Cambridge – have identified a method to overcome the chemical intractability of cellulose to allow it to be efficiently converted into bioethanol.
The enzyme TaGH61 – found in fungi – can degrade cellulose chains in plant cell walls, releasing shortened sugars for biofuels. The copper-dependent enzyme can initiate the effective oxidative degeneration of cellulose.
“Understanding the GH61 enzyme activity is one of the most significant recent advances in the area of biomass deconstruction and release of cell wall sugars,” said Professor Paul Dupree from the University of Cambridge Bioenergy Initiative.
The research – published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) – removes the major constraint on the production of bioethanol from cellulose, the world’s most abundant biopolymer.
“Cracking cellulose represents of one the principal industrial and biotechnical challenges of the 21st century,” said Professor Gideon Davies, from York’s department of chemistry. “Industrial production of fuels and chemicals from this plentiful and renewable resource holds the potential to displace petroleum-bases sources, thus reducing the associated economic and environmental costs of oil and gas production.”
The discovery paves the way for the industrial production of fuels and chemicals from cellulose, a plentiful and renewable waste in plant matter. Global generation of cellulose is the equivalent energy of 670 billion barrels of oil – some 20 times the current annual global oil consumption.
“The discovery opens up a major avenue in the continuing search for environmentally friendly and secure energy,” said Professor Paul Walton. “The potential of bioethanol to make a major contribution to sustainable energy really now is a reality.”
The work also involved scientists are Novozymes laboratories in California, and Bagsvaerd in Denmark and researchers from the University of Copenhagen.
