Tree Fungus for Biodiesel

US – A team led by a Montana State University professor has found a fungus that produces a new type of diesel fuel, which they say holds great promise.

Calling the fungus’ output “myco-diesel,” Gary Strobel and his collaborators describe their initial observations in the November issue of Microbiology, which carries a photo of the fungus on its cover.

The discovery may offer an alternative to fossil fuels, said Prof Strobel, MSU professor of plant sciences and plant pathology. The find is even bigger, he said, than his 1993 discovery of fungus that contained the anticancer drug taxol.

Prof Strobel, who travels the world looking for exotic plants that may contain beneficial microbes, found the diesel-producing fungus in a Patagonia rainforest.

Prof Strobel visited the rainforest in 2002 and collected a variety of specimens, including the branches from an ancient family of trees known as “ulmo.”

When he and his collaborators examined the branches, they found fungus growing inside. They continued to investigate and discovered that the fungus, called Gliocladium roseum, was producing gases.

Further testing showed that the fungus — under limited oxygen — was producing a number of compounds normally associated with diesel fuel, which is obtained from crude oil.

“These are the first organisms that have been found that make many of the ingredients of diesel,” Prof Strobel said.

“This is a major discovery.”

Prof Strobel is the lead author of the paper published in Microbiology. His MSU co-authors are Berk Knighton and Tom Livinghouse in the Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry, and Katreena Kluck and Yuhao Ren in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology. Other co-authors are Meghan Griffin and Daniel Spakowicz from Yale University and Joe Sears from the Center for Lab Services in Pasco, Washington.

Prof Strobel said he does not know when drivers will fill their gas tanks with fungi fuel or if processors can make enough to fill the demand. The road to commercialization is filled with potential glitches, he said. It’s also a major endeavor that will be left to others who specialize in those areas.

Myco-diesel could be an option for those who want alternatives even to ethanol, however, Strobel said. Some car manufacturers who shun ethanol might consider myco-diesel or fuels produced by other microbes.

“The question is, are there other microbes out there that can do that for us?” he asked.

Researchers in government agencies and private industry have already shown interest in the fungi. A team to conduct further research has been established between MSU’s College of Engineering and researchers at Yale University. One member of the team is Prof Strobel’s son, Scott, who is chairman of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. The MSU-Yale team will investigate a variety of questions, including the genetic makeup of Gliocladium roseum.

“The main value of this discovery may not be the organism itself, but may be the genes responsible for the production of these gases,” Gary Strobel said.

“There are certain enzymes that are responsible for the conversion of substrates such as cellulose to myco-diesel.”

Scott Strobel said his team is already screening the fungus’ genome. Besides determining the complete genetic makeup of the fungus, they will run a series of genetic and biochemical tests to identify the genes responsible for its diesel-making properties.

“The broader question is, what is responsible for the production of these compounds,” Scott Strobel said. “If you can identify that, you can hopefully scale it up so you end up with better efficiency of production.”

Scott Strobel said he agrees with his father that the discovery is exciting.

There’s nothing in the scientific literature about a microbe that produces the diversity of medium-chain hydrocarbons found in the Gliocladium roseum, he said. Longer hydrocarbon chains are common, but “that’s not what you put in your gas tank or jet engine.”

Another promising aspect is that the fungus can grow in cellulose.

“That’s the most common organic molecule on earth,” Scott Strobel said. “It’s all around us, everywhere.”

Scientists in a variety of disciplines should be able to work together to optimize production and find a way to turn what is essentially a vapor into a burnable, liquid fuel, he added.

Encapsulation and fish

Encapsulation from fish is  for innovation. The highlights of this month’s science have been novel encapsulation and controlled release, and getting more from fish. Controlled release The controlled release of ingredients, from flavours to nutrients, has been receiving more research attention. However, according to Dérick Rousseau, PhD, from Ryerson University in Canada, few examples, if any, of food-related commercial applications of controlled release exist. Dr Rousseau told attendees at the IFT International Food Nanoscience Conference in New Orleans that while the science is coming along, the understanding of controlled release of ingredients for food is still full of holes. “When it comes to foods and the concept and application of controlled release, what we do know is dwarfed by what we don’t,” he said. There are options available to food scientists however, and Dr Rousseau has his finger in a lot of research pies, being active in the study of many different types of controlled release. These include microemulsions containing nano-scale particles, self-assembled dairy proteins, and phase-separated hydrogels. He said that micro emulsions offer the easiest application, and they are thermodynamically stable, meaning they are formed almost instantly on mixing, and they also do not separate over time. But it’s not all plain-sailing, and innovation is handicapped by the limited choice of food grade surfactants. On the topic of self-assembling proteins, Dr Rousseau told FoodNavigator this was “intriguing.” Indeed, fellow IFT speaker Kees de Kruif from NIZO Food Research in the Netherlands told this website that, while the majority of research in this area to date has focussed on dairy proteins, the field could be expanded to non-dairy proteins, in principle. “Self-assembling of proteins is common. In fact, it’s more of a rule than an exception. If we can manipulate this self-assembling of proteins at the nanoscale, I see a big future for it,” he said. Fishy alternatives Recent food safety fears such as BSE in cattle and avian ‘flu in poultry prompted consumers and marketers to look for products containing no animal derivatives, and this is affecting ingredients like gelatine. Despite certain companies and institutions claiming to have conclusively proven that there is no link between gelatine and BSE, this has not stopped the search for alternatives. Researchers from Malaysia reported earlier this month that fish gelatine (especially from warm water fish) “possesses similar characteristics to porcine gelatine and may thus be considered as an alternative to mammalian gelatine for use in food products.” Gelatine is a translucent colourless substance, created by prolonged boiling of animal skin, connective tissue or bones. It is most commonly used as a stabiliser, thickener, or texturiser in foods such as ice cream, jams and yoghurt, and is also used to improve the mouthfeel of various products. “Production and utilization of fish gelatine not only satisfies the needs of consumers, but also serves as a means to utilise some of the byproducts of the fishing industry,” they wrote in the journal Food Hydrocolloids. In a different study, researchers from Mexico reported that protein hydrolysates from Pacific whiting, an abundant and under-utilised fish, could substitute functional compounds such as bovine serum albumin and sodium caseinate. “Results in the present study showed that hydrolysates produced from Pacific whiting (Merluccius productus) muscle can be used as food ingredients or additives to impart a desire characteristic to food products or increase food storage stability, acting as emulsifying, foaming or dispersing agents, in sausages, mayonnaise, salad dressings, beverages, creams, etc., all these in a broad pH range,” they in the journal Food Chemistry.

Self-assembling proteins offer golden food future

There is a big future for exploiting protein’s natural tendency to self-assembly into micelles or nanotubes, says a leading researcher in the field.

“Self-assembling of proteins is common. In fact, it’s more of a rule than an exception. If we can manipulate this self-assembling of proteins at the nanoscale, I see a big future for it,” said Professor Kees de Kruif from NIZO Food Research.

The majority of research in this area to date has focussed on dairy proteins, with the potential of casein micelles and alpha-lactalbumin nanotubes being explored, Prof de Kruif told FoodNavigator following his presentation to attendees at the Nanoscience conference at IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo in New Orleans.

The protein casein makes up about 80 per cent of the protein content of cow’s milk (30-35 about 2.5 gram per litre grams per litre) and is found naturally in the form of spherical micelles with diameters ranging from 50 to 300 nanometres. The stability of these micelles during processing also makes them a very attractive nano-encapsulator.

Indeed, according to Prof de Kruif, Mother Nature designed the casein micelles to concentrate, stabilise and deliver nutrients to the newborn.

In nature, calcium phosphate is bound inside the micelles, but food scientist can replace calcium with other minerals or vitamins, thereby providing a delivery system for certain bioactive molecules.

“Caseins are very beautiful proteins, with functionalities in food unsurpassed by other food proteins,” said Prof. de Kruif. Indeed, they are very stable to heat, and the stability can be increased by cross-linking with transglutanimase (TGase).

Nanotubes

Another dairy protein receiving interest from researchers is bovine alpha-lactalbumin.

By adding an enzyme to the protein, Prof de Kruif and his team were able to produce food-grade nanotubes.

“This was the first time that anyone made man-made nanotubes from proteins,” he said.

In addition, for food scientists, the tubular structures are more interesting than the spherical ones, he said.

Moreover, by taking the science further, and manipulating this self-assembly process, new proteins with new functionalities can be produced, said Prof de Kruif. “They could replace the use of gelatine.”

These nanotubes could also be used for encapsulation of ingredients, he said. Moreover, the nanotubes would not need to sealed and could be left open-ended. And how far away are we from using such nanotubes in food?

“This is still a bit far fetched in the sense that you can make the nanotubes and you can stabilise them, but they are too expensive for the food business at present,” he said.

“We need investment to scale this up.”

Beyond dairy

Since the self-assembling of proteins into intriguing structures is common to all proteins, Prof de Kruif says that, in principle, non-dairy proteins could be used.

“In theory, you need a long stiff molecule, like gelatine,” he said. “We should look at elongated structures because they’re the interesting ones, not the globular proteins.”

Study with plant proteins is still in its infancy, but the study performed with milk proteins should be translated to other proteins.

Prof de Kruif looks at the issue from a material science rather than food science point of view and focuses on understanding what properties the protein should have. “It’s the same as a chemical engineer asking what properties a plastic should have before they start developing it.”

Nanoboom

The application of nanotechnology and nanoparticles in food are emerging rapidly, and some analysts predict that nanotechnology will be incorporated into 16.4bn worth of food products by 2010.

However, enthusiasm over the rate of progress and the possibilities is being tempered by concerns over possible downsides of the scienc

Edible sensors may indicate bacterial contamination By Jane Byrne, 13-Aug-2008

Related topics: Cleaning / Safety / Hygiene, Packaging Materials

Edible nano-sensors made from silk could alert consumers to potential contamination of food produce through a hologram-like indicator embedded in the pack, claim US researchers.

Demand for products that can help processors ensure their goods are safe has grown in the wake of a number of high profile food recalls and scares in the US with researchers looking increasingly to nanotechnology in this regard.

Edible silk lenses as biosensors could be one such means of effectively monitoring the level of dangerous bacteria in food packaging, according to researchers from the School of Engineering at Tufts University in the US.

“For example, at a low cost, we could potentially put a bioactive silk film in every bag of spinach, and it could give the consumer a readout of whether or not E. coli bacteria were in the bag before the food was consumed,” claims David Kaplan, chair of the biomedical engineering department at Tufts.

E. coli

Microbiological safety is a key issue for fruits, vegetables and ready-to-eat prepared vegetable tissues, because all are intended for consumption raw, without further preparation or cooking.

An outbreak of E. coli in September 2006 was traced back to packaged cut spinach originating from California. The outbreak killed three people and sickened more than 200 people across the US.

Biodegradable sensor

Edible nanoparticles can be made of materials that react with the body’s heat or chemistry, such as polymers. Silk optic sensors would have the advantage of the strong, flexible, benign, and biodegradable nature of silk, claim findings from the Tufts University study, published in the American Journal of Chemistry.

Processors could gain from meat freshness indicator By Jane Byrne, 25-Sep-2008

A sensor that changes colour to indicate meat spoilage could prevent serious illness and food waste, say the US scientists involved in the project.

Battelle scientists John R. Shaw and Donald Zehnder have been involved in a project for the past two years aimed at developing a ‘trap and detect’ tool for embedding in meat packaging to warn retailers and consumers of the presence of bacteria that cause food spoilage.

“We really wanted to come up with an idea whereby the consumer could look at the package and instantly know that the meat product was fresh or spoiled,” said John Shaw.

Zehnder told FoodProductionDaily.com that, following preliminary lab work, the team is at the stage of designing a prototype sensor and they have recently filed for a patent in relation to their chemical detector.

According to the two chemists, the project was prompted by what they felt was a lack of safeguards in the food supply chain following the spinach linked E. coli outbreak that killed three people and sickened more than 200 in September 2006.

They said their sensor could help reduce the risk of human illness or costly recalls.

Changing colour

Shaw said that their sensor, using technology based on colour metrics, changes from yellow to dark red when bacteria such as achromobacter and micrococcus have contaminated the meat.

He explained that the sensor is a synthetic molecule that binds with the material that the spoilage bacteria emit when they feed on the meat, and when the molecule and material bind the light they produce changes the colour of the sensor.

We are, here, In Indonesia, never think to run such a thinkable project, Therefore no wonder our research is still left behind for may be 20 years. this is some sorts of painfull critics to myselves as a scientist. Do our researchers think to make a smart plate thats will transmit warning if a soup or a food poured on to this a smart plate  too much MSG, or fats content for example. Let us work hard to make  our nation leading in this advanced technology not just playing the game of politics.