Plant enzyme discovery could improve viability of biofuels

The findings could be used to improve the viability of sustainable biofuels that do not adversely affect the food chain.

The team, based at Cambridge University and now part of the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre (BSBEC), has identified and studied the genes for two enzymes that toughen wood, straw and stalks and so make it difficult to extract sugars to make bioethanol or other plant-derived products.

According to a statement, this knowledge can now be used in crop breeding programmes to make non-edible plant material that requires less processing, energy and chemicals for conversion to biofuels or other renewable products and that has a lower overall impact on atmospheric carbon.

The research is also said to increase the economic viability of producing sustainable biofuels from the inedible by-products of crops through the increased understanding of plant structures.

Lead researcher Prof Paul Dupree said: ‘There is a lot of energy stored in wood and straw in the form of a substance called lignocellulose. We wanted to find ways of making it easier to get at this energy and extract it in the form of sugars that can be fermented to produce bioethanol and other products.’