DOE Joint Genome Institute

All JGI Features
Home › Items tagged with: biofuel

Content Tagged "biofuel"

Xylose-fermenting yeast project in Ethanol Producer

Using Mother Nature as their teacher, researchers at the U.S. DOE’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, along with the DOE’s Joint Genome Institute, have sequenced the genomes of two types of yeasts found in bark beetles and then compared and contrasted the results with other yeasts’ genome sequences to determine which can best convert the… [Read More]

Sweetening the Biofuels Production Process

Currently, converting cellulosic biomass into biofuels is inefficient and costly.  One of the barriers to reducing costs and yields is that xylose, a five-carbon sugar that represents nearly half of available sugars in plant (in the form of hemicellulose), is extremely difficult and time-consuming to break down using enzymes sourced from conventional yeast strains. In… [Read More]

Eucalyptus genome project on Science in Public

The genome of one of Australia’s biggest Eucalyptus trees, the Flooded Gum or Eucalyptus grandis, has now been mapped, allowing scientists and conservationists an insight into the secrets of an important piece of Australiana.Eucalyptus has become the most popular plantation tree in the world – with millions of hectares planted in Africa, America, Europe and… [Read More]

Ethanol Contaminant Could Assist Production Efficiency

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… [Read More]

Dry rot (Serpula) genome on ScienceNewsline

As reported online July 14 in Science Express, an international team of scientists including DOE JGI researchers compared the genome of Serpula lacrymans, the second brown rot fungus to have its genome sequenced, against 10 other published fungal genomes. The DOE JGI sequenced seven of these genomes among them Postia placenta, the first brown rot… [Read More]

Destroyer of Houses Harnessed for Biofuel Production

Although people rarely see the positives when their wooden houses begin to rot, scientists at the DOE JGI have found a silver lining in this destructive phenomenon. Through DNA sequencing and a comparative analysis with other fungi that DOE JGI has characterized, researchers have homed in on the mechanisms that the brown rot, Serpula lacrymans,… [Read More]

Dry rot (Serpula) genome project on eNews Park Forest

In 2007 the US Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute sequenced Serpula lacrymans in order to see if the way it breaks down cellulose in wood could be harnessed for biofuel production. An international team analysing the genome have found the enzyme mechanisms that could explain the aggressive decay caused by this form of dry… [Read More]

Dry rot (Serpula) project in Biofuels Journal

“For example, if you go back far enough in time to the period when trees were developing, there was no way to break lignocellulose down, which led to the coal seams we tap today.“When the fungi figured out how to break down lignocellulose, the coevolution of the fungi and trees kick-started the carbon cycle again.”… [Read More]

Dry rot (Serpula) genome project on Greenwire

Researchers have sequenced the genome for brown rot — also known as dry rot — in a step that could have applications for biofuels and better understanding of forest carbon cycling. Dry rot, a scourge of homeowners, is a fungus that decays wood by attacking its sugars — cellulose and hemicellulose — and working around… [Read More]

Dry rot (Serpula) genome project on WalesOnline

WELSH scientists are looking at harnessing the power of the virulent fungus which causes dry rot to help make biofuels of the future. Closer examination of the damaging fungus Serpula lacrymans as part of an international project led by Swansea University could also hold the key to protecting buildings from dry rot. Read more at… [Read More]