New enzyme research could boost next generation biofuels production

A team of researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Science Centre believes it has identified key new proteins which could aid in the production of next generation biofuels.

Analysis of eight species of heat-loving bacteria from the genus Caldicellulosiruptor has revealed it may be possible to break down complex plant material, like switchgrass, using those instead of having to introduce commercially-produced enzymes to break down the cellulose.

The research team was made up of participants from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Georgia and North Carolina State University.

‘We had found that not all members of this group were able to equally degrade cellulose as others were," said North Carolina's Sara Blumer-Schuette. ‘The main aim of this project was to figure what the true determinants were for strongly celluloytic bacteria from this genus — what made them celluloytic versus the others.’

The team compared eight related, yet variable, species of plant and discovered which genes were unique to each one in terms of ability to break down cellulose. The new proteins found, and determined to be adhesions, helped the bacteria break large chunks of plant material apart more efficiently.

Blumer-Schuette claims these proteins ‘maintain a tight interface between the bacterium and cellulose and degrade biomass found in their environment’.

A full report on the discovery was published online by the Journal of Bacteriology.