An Ethanol plant in Bairstown, Iowa
(Courtesy of USDA)
In the August edition of The Journal of Bacteriology, researchers led by long-time collaborator David Mills of the University of California Davis, and including DOE JGI’s Alex Copeland, Olga Chertkov and Lynne Goodwin, announced the completed genome sequence of Lactobacillus buchneri and has now been made publically available.
This new sequence information could give biofuel producers insight into how to develop similar bacteria with enhanced abilities to simultaneously convert xylose and glucose directly into ethanol. This could in turn make the biofuel production process more efficient by maximizing the conversion of the raw biomass (hemicellulose and cellulose). The generation of this sequence will lead to future engineering of carbohydrate metabolism and modification of various final profiles for biofuels and other platform chemicals. The lack of mass produced microorganisms, specifically bacteria, for converting biomass into fuel is a major technical roadblock to developing a bioethanol industry. “Interestingly, several isolates of L. buchneri are capable of producing ferulate esterases, which break down the cross-links between lignin and hemicellulose,” wrote the researchers.
This bacteria is unique due to its rapid growth and is desirable for bioconversion of biomass because of its high tolerance to ethanol and other stresses. This bacteria is a contaminant created during ethanol production, however unlike other contaminants made during production, this one has no effect on the successful formation of ethanol. For this reason, researchers are interested in what makes this bacteria different than other ethanol contaminants.
“The finished genome sequence will enable whole-genome expression studies to better understand the stress response systems present in this ethanol-tolerant microbe,” the researchers added.
“The finished genome sequence will enable whole-genome expression studies to better understand the stress response systems present in this ethanol-tolerant microbe,” the researchers added.