Researchers synthesize new enzymes for biofuel production

2009-03-24T00:00:00-00:00

Researchers at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and gene-synthesis company DNA2.0 have synthesized 15 new enzymes that catalyse the breakdown of plant material into sugars, which can be easily converted into ethanol or butanol.

Current generation biofuels are produced using feedstock such as corn kernels, wood chips left over from pulp and paper production, prairie grasses, and even municipal waste. The most common method is to ferment the starch in corn kernels – which are expensive.

Cheaper feedstock such as agricultural waste and corn stover (left over leaves, stalks, and stripped cobs) are mainly cellulose and much harder to breakdown, so as well as fermentation the process requires a number of enzyme catalysts.

The catalysts that are currently used – derived from plant-decaying fungi – are slow and unstable.

But the new catalysts synthesized by Frances H. Arnold and her colleagues are much more efficient, stable and operate over a wide range of conditions.

“Even a two-fold reduction in their cost could make a big difference to the economics of renewable fuels,” says Arnold.

She believes that their candidate enzyme catalysts could ultimately provide a cost-effective means of converting cellulosic material easily into biofuel.

For further information:
www.pnas.org/
www.caltec.edu/

Portions of three natural fungal cellulase enzymes that have been recombined to produce a synthetic, thermostable cellulase denoted by blue, green and red coloring. (Credit: Caltech/Christopher D. Snow of the Arnold group.)

Afion Media Ltd

Researchers synthesize new enzymes for biofuel production