PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Crafting a better enzyme cocktail to turn plants into fuel faster

Tapping fungus to unlock energy

2013-11-04
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Tom Rickey
tom.rickey@pnnl.gov
509-375-3732
DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Crafting a better enzyme cocktail to turn plants into fuel faster Tapping fungus to unlock energy

RICHLAND, Wash. – Scientists looking to create a potent blend of enzymes to transform materials like corn stalks and wood chips into fuels have developed a test that should turbocharge their efforts.

The new research, published in October in the journal Molecular BioSystems, is part of a worldwide effort to create fuels from plants that are plentiful and aren't part of the food supply. It's possible to do this today, but the process is costly, laborious and lengthy. The findings by chemists and colleagues at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory open the possibility that laboratory research that now takes months could be reduced to days, and that scientists will be able to assess more options for biofuel development than is possible today.

Many of today's efforts revolve around the fungus Trichoderma reesei, which introduced itself to U.S. troops during World War II by chewing through their tents in the Pacific theater. Seventy years later, T. reesei is a star in the world of biofuels because of its ability to churn out enzymes that chew through molecules like complex sugars.

The breakdown of large sugar polymers into smaller compounds that can then be further converted to fuel compounds is the final, crucial step in the effort to make fuels from materials like switchgrass and corn stalks. These plants and many others are full of energy, stored in carbon bonds, which can be converted into fuel, if scientists can find ways to free the compounds that store the energy from the tough structural material, known as lignocellulose, which holds the plants together.

Lignocellulose is what stands between you and a tankful of fuel created from corn stalks or switchgrass.

"The ultimate goal is to begin with a plant material like corn stalks, for instance, and to subject it to a cocktail of enzymes that would convert those plants to fuel," said chemist Aaron Wright, who led the PNNL team. "It takes a series of steps to do that, and the cost has to come down if these fuels are to compete seriously with traditional hydrocarbon-based fuels."

T. reesei chews through materials naturally, cutting through the chemical "wrapping" much like a person with scissors cuts through a tightly wrapped ribbon around a gift, freeing the inner contents for enjoyment. The fungus actually makes dozens of cutting enzymes, each of which attacks the wrapping differently. Chemists like Wright are trying to combine and improve upon the best ones to create a potent chemical cocktail, a mix of enzymes that accomplishes the task super efficiently. That would bring down the cost of producing biofuels.

Wright's study focused on a subset of the fungus's collection of cutting tools, on enzymes known as glycoside hydrolases. It's their job to break down complex sugars into simple sugars, a key step in the fuel production process.

To assess the effectiveness of mixtures of these enzymes, scientists must either measure the overall performance of the mixture, or they must test the component enzymes one at a time to see how each reacts to different conditions like temperature, pressure and pH.

Wright's team developed a way to measure the activity of each of the ingredients simultaneously, as well as the mixture overall. Instead of needing to run a series of experiments, each focusing on a separate enzyme, the team runs one experiment and tracks precisely how each of dozens of enzymes reacts to changing conditions.

A series of experiments detailing the activity of 30 enzymes, for instance, now might be accomplished in a day or two with the new technology, compared to several months using today's commonplace methods, the scientists say.

The key to the work is a chemical probe the team created to monitor the activity of many enzymes at once. The heart of the system, known as activity-based protein profiling, is a chemical probe that binds to glycoside hydrolases and gives off information indicating just how active each of those enzymes is moment by moment.

"Identifying exactly which enzymes are doing most of the work you need done is crucial for making this an economical process," said Wright. "We're trying to keep tabs on the precise activity of every enzyme as each goes through a very complex process, as conditions like temperature and pH vary, to measure their activity through each stage."

"We can test the whole mixture, and we can also tease out each individual contribution. People have not been able to do that all at once before," added Wright, whose study was funded by PNNL.

Many of the measurements for the study, such as the measures of protein activity using mass spectrometry, were done at EMSL, the DOE's Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory on the PNNL campus. Wright's team included Lindsey Anderson, David Culley, Beth Hofstad, Lacie Chauvigné-Hines, Erika Zink, Samuel Purvine, Richard Smith, Stephen Callister, and Jon Magnuson, all of PNNL.



INFORMATION:

Reference: Lindsey N. Anderson, David E. Culley, Beth A. Hofstad, Lacie M. Chauvigné-Hines, Erika M. Zink, Samuel O. Purvine, Richard D. Smith, Stephen J. Callister, Jon M. Magnuson and Aaron T. Wright, Activity-based protein profiling of secreted cellulolytic enzyme activity dynamics in Trichoderma reesei QM6a, NG14, and RUT-C30, Molecular BioSystems, Oct. 9, 2013, DOI: 10.1039/c3mb70333a.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

The biggest mass extinction and Pangea integration

2013-11-03
The biggest mass extinction and Pangea integration The mysterious relationship between Pangea integration and the biggest mass extinction happened 250 million years ago was tackled by Professor YIN Hongfu and Dr. SONG Haijun from State Key Laboratory of Geobiology ...

IU study: Leadership void, not lack of money, slows efforts to address cervical cancer

2013-11-03
IU study: Leadership void, not lack of money, slows efforts to address cervical cancer BOSTON -- A study by Indiana University public health researchers found that the opportunity for significant progress in addressing cervical cancer across the country is being ...

Global warming led to dwarfism in mammals -- twice

2013-11-02
Global warming led to dwarfism in mammals -- twice ANN ARBOR—Mammal body size decreased significantly during at least two ancient global warming events, a new finding that suggests a similar outcome is possible in response to human-caused climate change, according to ...

Kessler Foundation neuroimaging study sheds light on mechanisms of cognitive fatigue in MS

2013-11-02
Kessler Foundation neuroimaging study sheds light on mechanisms of cognitive fatigue in MS Neuroimaging findings indicate presence of 'fatigue-network' in persons with MS West Orange, NJ. November 1, 2013. A new study by Kessler Foundation scientists sheds ...

Genetic rarity rules in wild guppy population, study finds

2013-11-02
Genetic rarity rules in wild guppy population, study finds Female guppies in Trinidad seek rare males as mates TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — When it comes to choosing a mate, female guppies don't care about who is fairest. All that matters is who is rarest. Florida State ...

Mindful individuals less affected by immediate rewards

2013-11-02
Mindful individuals less affected by immediate rewards TORONTO, ON – A new study from the University of Toronto Scarborough shows that people who are aware of and their own thoughts and emotions are less affected by positive feedback from others. The study, ...

Synaptic transistor learns while it computes

2013-11-02
Synaptic transistor learns while it computes First-of-its-kind, brain-inspired device looks toward highly efficient and fast parallel computing networks Cambridge, Mass. – November 1, 2013 – It doesn't take a Watson to realize that even the world's best supercomputers ...

Bipolar and pregnant

2013-11-02
Bipolar and pregnant Bipolar drugs lose effect during pregnancy, so women need higher doses to stay well CHICAGO --- New Northwestern Medicine® research offers one of the first in-depth studies of how physiological changes during pregnancy reduce the effects ...

Study finds a patchwork of genetic variation in the brain

2013-11-02
Study finds a patchwork of genetic variation in the brain Salk scientists find a surprising degree of variation among genomes of individual neurons from the same brain It was once thought that each cell in a person's body possesses the same DNA code and that the particular way ...

Results of the GIANT trial reported at TCT 2013

2013-11-01
Results of the GIANT trial reported at TCT 2013 Genetic profiling may provide clinical benefit by identifying heart attack patients that are resistant to blood thinners SAN FRANCISCO, CA – October 31, 2013 – According to a new study, genetic profiling of patients undergoing ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

The experts that can outsmart optical illusions

Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk

Scientists uncover novel immune mechanism in wheat tandem kinase

Three University of Virginia Engineering faculty elected as AAAS Fellows

[Press-News.org] Crafting a better enzyme cocktail to turn plants into fuel faster
Tapping fungus to unlock energy