Slide 1

Slide 2

Slide 3

Slide 4

Slide 5

Slide 6

Slide 7

Slide 8

News

A bacteria found on decaying wood may speed up biofuels research

BIOGENRES
21 November 2013Microorganisms
Enterobacter lignolyticus SCF1, a bacterium involved in decomposition of wood in tropical rainforests, could be a useful tool in recovery of next-generation biofuels. A recent study presented by Dr. Blake A. Simmons, researcher in JBEI Berkeley Lab, showed encouraging features in the natural behaviour of this anaerobic microbe.
Blake's group found that E. lignolyticus SCF1 is capable of easily degrading the lignin, the woody polymer in the walls of plant cells, that binds and protects the cellulose sugars that plants use for energy. Lignin represents a major challenge for extraction of plant sugars to use for advanced biofuels. 
Deagrading enzymes in E. lignolyticus, seem to work at very fast rate, under anaerobic conditions, and could be used to deconstruct lignin and improve biofuels production.
Remarkably, not only does lignin inhibit access to cellulose sugars, but by-products of its degradation often result toxic to microbes employed to ferment sugars into fuels. This makes finding microbes like E. lignolyticus, that can tolerate a lignin environment, a priority for biofuels research. 

Read more at this link.
Back