August 24, 2010
Scientists Discover Genes that Can Improve Biofuel Production
Published in Energy Boom
Research from the University of Illinois has identified yeast genes that can increase the efficiency of producing biofuel from biomass.
Biofuels are produced through the microbial fermentation of biomass crops such as corn, sugarcane, and jatropha. This process produces alcohol-based fuels ethanol and iso-butanol if yeast is used as the microbe to covert the sugars into fuel.
However, at a certain temperature the biofuels become toxic to the yeast being used to create them. A team of scientists at the University of Illinois have discovered four genes that improve the tolerance of yeast to ethanol or iso-butanol when they are over expressed.
Each of the genes increased the yeast's tolerance, but one gene, in particular, INO1 increased ethanol production by 70% and tolerance by 340%.
Yon-Su Jin, an assistant professor microbial genomics at the University of Illinois, said, "Identification of these genes should enable us to produce transportation fuels from biomass more economically and efficiently. It's a first step in understanding the cellular reaction that currently limits the production process."
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