Researchers focus on tension wood in linking phenotypic and genotypic data to the lignocellulosic challenges presented in converting poplar biomass to sugars for biofuels production.
UV treatments for contaminated MDA reagents
Single cell genomicsis a method used by researchers to get around the research roadblock thrown up by the need for large amounts of microbial DNA in order to do traditional sequencing techniques. In this process, a single cell isolated from an environmental sample is amplified to make millions of copies of the microbial genome…
Berkeley Lab Open House recap on Today at Berkeley Lab
At DOE JGI’s metagenomics of restored wetlands exhibit Most notable among the crowd of thousands was the number of youngsters who were in attendance. Families were enthralled by the terrific science, engineering, and operations efforts presented at the various booths. Read more at Today at Berkeley Lab
Director Rubin on corngrass1 for biofuel
Up to now, the fast-growing switchgrass, because of its tough lignin, an organic polymer, has required heavy chemical treatment before it can be turned to ethanol as biofuel. Chuck’s gene transfer experiments have shown that because the improved switchgrass keeps the plants young, the lignin content of their cells is minimal and would need no…
Fungal enzymes to improve biomass pretreatment processes
Many of the enzymes currently being used in the pretreatment processes for cellulosic biofuels production come from species that thrive at temperatures comfortable to humans (68°F-95°F). To speed up this process of converting polysaccharides to fermentable sugars, a goal driven by the nation’s Renewable Fuels Standard requirement that calls for the annual production of 36…
Of Soil Carbon and Climate Change
Thanks to genome sequencing techniques such as those at the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, California, we now have a much better idea of what microbes are in soil, what they’re doing, and what proteins they’re producing. That’s important, because a handful of soil can teem with millions of microbes, some…
Thermophilic fungi in Scientific American
Heat-loving fungi could provide a key enzyme for making low cost biofuel, and a team of “mushroom detectives” from the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute think they’ve just nailed their man – er, fungus. Read more at Scientific American
Thermophilic fungi in energyNOW!
Next-generation biofuel refining is based on tweaking enzymes to break down plant walls and convert biomass to fermentable sugars. The research has two main goals. One is to find ways to cut down the energy input needed for biofuel processing. Read more on energyNOW!
Thermophilic fungi in Walnut Creek Patch
Research on fungi at the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek is heating up the nation’s efforts to develop biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. Read more on the Walnut Creek Patch
Advancing Next Gen Biofuels by Turning Up the Heat on Biomass Pretreatment Processes
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.—The nation’s Renewable Fuels Standard calls for annual production of 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022. One of the biggest hurdles to achieving this goal lies in optimizing the multistep process involved in breaking down plant biomass and then converting it into fermentable sugars that can be refined into fuel for our…