Harvested from the
poop of goats, horses and sheep, anaerobic gut fungi
pictured here help
herbivores digest stubborn plant material. A team of researchers
report in the
journal Science that these fungi could potentially lead to cheaper
biofuel and
bio-based products.
Image courtesy of
University of California, of Santa Barbara
(February 19, 2016) Nature's
figured it out already, how to best break down food into fuel. Now scientists
have caught up, showing that fungi found in the guts of goats, horses and sheep
could help fill up your gas tank too.
The researchers report in the journal Science on Feb. 18
that these anaerobic gut fungi perform as well as the best fungi engineered by
industry in their ability to convert plant material into sugars that are easily
transformed into fuel and other products.
"Nature has engineered these fungi to have what seems
to be the world's largest repertoire of enzymes that break down biomass,"
said Michelle O'Malley, lead author and professor of chemical engineering at
the University of California, Santa Barbara.
These enzymes — tools made of protein — work together to
break down stubborn plant material. The researchers found that the fungi adapt
their enzymes to wood, grass, agricultural waste, or whatever scientists feed
it. The findings suggest that industry could modify the gut fungi so that they
produce improved enzymes that will outperform the best available ones,
potentially leading to cheaper biofuels and bio-based products.
To make the finding, O'Malley drew upon two U.S. Department
of Energy Office of Science User Facilities: the Environmental Molecular
Science Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the DOE Joint
Genome Institute. O'Malley's study is the first to result from a partnership
between the two facilities called Facilities Integrating Collaborations for
User Science or FICUS. The partnership allows scientists around the world to
draw on capabilities at both Office of Science user facilities to get a more
complete understanding of fundamental scientific questions. O'Malley's team
also included scientists from PNNL, DOE JGI, the Broad Institute of MIT and
Harvard, and Harper Adams University.
"By tapping the RNA sequencing and protein
characterization capabilities at the respective facilities, we have advanced
biofuel research in ways not otherwise possible," said Susannah Tringe,
DOE JGI deputy for User Programs. "This collaborative program was
established to encourage and enable researchers to more easily integrate the
expertise and capabilities of multiple user facilities into their research.
FICUS offers a one-stop shopping approach for access to technology
infrastructure that is rapidly becoming a model for collaboration."
The latest omics technologies and transcontinental teams
aside, these finding would not be possible without the most humble of
substances.