Scientific boost to biofuel production discovered

US scientists have claimed to have discovered a family of plant proteins that can play a role in the future production of seed oils.

The researchers, based at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Iowa State University, have identified three related proteins in thale cress plants that can regulate the metabolism of fatty acids (chemical components of all cell membranes and vegetable oils).

These findings may lead to the development of improved crops, yielding higher qualities and quantities of oils, and help address growing demands for both food and biofuels to ease pressures on global ecosystems.

‘This work has major implications for modulating the fatty acid profiles of plants, which is terribly important not only to sustainable food production and nutrition, but now to biorenewable chemicals and fuels,’ says director of Salk's Centre for Chemical Biology and Proteomics, Joseph Noel.