Skip to main content

Diesel from Fungi!

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about a fungus everywhere.

What's the deal with this fungus?

As we are turning to the future, we need to look for new ways to fund our energy demands. The November edition of the Microbiology Journal suggests one way this could be done. Professor Gary Strobel and his team publish their work on a new fungus which they name Gliocladium roseum (NRRL 50072). The special property of this fungus is that it can make diesel fuel called myco-diesel. (Myco is Latin for fungus.) It does so by breaking down cellulose which is the tough plant cell wall we use for everyday products like paper. Breaking down cellulose normally requires many toxic chemicals and a lot of energy. Therefore, it is quite remarkable that the fungus can make diesel without the need for toxic chemicals. This discovery is important because, in the future, we could use these fungi or the parts of it to make diesel without the need for oil.

Why does a fungus want to produce diesel?

Gliocladium roseum was isolated from the rainforests of the Patagonia region in South America. The moist, and warm conditions in the rain forests do not only promote dense growth and diversity, it also habours many infectious diseases. G. roeum is an endophyte which means that this fungus grows within its host plant Eucryphia cordifolia (ulmo).
Interestingly, it seems to do so without killing the plant. The researchers therefore hypothesize that, in fact, the relationship that this fungus has with its host plants is beneficial to both organisms (symbiotic): While the plant gives physical protection from the environment, the fungus helps the plant by producing these diesel components, which turn out to have anti-microbial properties. For those interested, among the many hydrocarbons this organisms produce are undecane, 2,6-dimethyl; decane, 3,3,5-trimethyl; cyclohexene, 4-methyl; decane, 3,3,6-trimethyl; and undecane, 4,4-dimethyl.


My Argument for Conservation

Apart from the ethical, and environmental reasons for preserving the environment, bioprospecting is the keyword. Prospecting is the act of finding something that will be beneficial or successful. Back in the colonial days, many prospectors went West to discover new rich lands. In the same sense bioprospecting is the act of looking to nature to find solutions to problems we have. Often times, we don't know how a given plant or organism would be useful right away, and this is why we catalog them. But it is ultimately through bioprospecting that some of the anti-cancer medicine we now use are found.
The recent discovery of Gliocladium roseum is the result of bioprospecting. Many future unknown benefits wait to be discovered. This is the dilemna we are facing right now throughout the world. Many of these habitats are in danger of being destroyed by the effects of humanity. Many areas are burned down for agriculture or for real estate. In the process, a lot of diversity that could hold the answer to many of our questions get destroyed without us even knowing.
I recently watched a CNN documentary special with Anderson Cooper called "Planet in Peril". It seems if people can be convinced that the natural habitat represents a valuable, renewable resource by discovering the use for some of these plants or organisms, a strong economic argument exists for preserving as many of our precious natural resources as possible while trying to learn how things are done the natural way. Watching the documentary, I gained a whole new appreciation for people who promote conservation efforts while working with the local population. I really recommend everyone to watch the documentary. This kind of work is tough! Therefore, I would encourage everyone to support any of those workers in any small way you can.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

In Other Words: A Life on Our Planet

I just watched this documentary together with my son and my wife. Different from David's typical approach of sparse objective commentary, this documentary movie is a personal witness statement that David Attenborough is making describing how our planet has changed in his life time. It's compelling, and urgent but still hopeful.   Please, watch this documentary and share with your friends so they get the message!

Sustainable Living - One Step at a time: Toilet Paper

Introduction It's been a while since last, I posted here. Today, I want to introduce another blogging series which I call "Sustainable Living - One Step at a time" In the past, I have often written and talked about interesting new technologies and ideas in the biological field, some of which could be used to reduce the impact human kind makes on the environment. Although many dedicated brains are tackling these interesting challenges, there are even more who are not working in these kinds of fields. What can other people do to reduce one's impact on the environment? Generally, by adapting a more sustainable approach of living.  Because so many habits and other aspects of life would need to be changed, many people may not feel that it is worth pursuing these efforts because the perceived sacrifices would be too big. Alternatively, one may not know where to start. I do not exclude myself it the latter group. So, instead of trying to do everything at the same tim...

Freely-Speaking: Quick note on bio-based antennaes

With my thesis defense coming up this Monday, I really did not have as much time to share all the interesting things I came across lately. But I did not want to miss the chance to make a quick note to myself and the readers of this site of an interesting paper, titled "DNA-based programming of quantum dot valency, self-assembly and luminescence" just published in Nature Nanotechnology . Grigory Tikhomirov et al. report "the self-assembly of quantum dot complexes using cadmium telluride nanocrystals capped with specific sequences of DNA. Quantum dots with between one and five DNA-based binding sites are synthesized and then used as building blocks to create a variety of rationally designed assemblies, including cross-shaped complexes containing three different types of dots...Through changes in pH, the conformation of the complexes can also be reversibly switched, turning on and off the transfer of energy between the constituent quantum dots." In other w...