Engineered Microbe Can Produce Ethanol from Plant Biomass Without Pretreatment

In Washington, scientists have refined a strategy known as consolidated bioprocessing (CPB) to reduce costs of producing ethanol from plant biomass. Now, scientists try to engineer a strain of a CBP bacterium called Caldicellulosiruptor bescii that can break down biomass without pretreatment and produce ethanol as well.

Caldicellulosiruptor bescii has been shown to ferment untreated switchgrass, but it lacked the genes to make ethanol. Researchers identified a gene in Clostridium thermocellum and cloned it into C. bescii. The engineered strain of C. bescii was then able to produce ethanol from cellobiose, Avicel, and switchgrass. 

This study is an important step in realizing the potential of CBP and provides a platform for engineering the production of advanced biofuels and other bioproducts directly from cellulosic biomass.