http://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/content/pdf/1754-6834-3-5.pdf

The yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been a traditional organism for ethanol production (from saccharine substrates, like glucose or sucrose), way before the "biofuel ethanol age". Until recently, ethanol has been produced by fermentation, mainly for beverage purposes. With the coming of the "biofuel ethanol age" and the trend towards the use of lignocellulosic biomass as "second-generation ethanol feedstock", scientists have begun to provide Saccharomyces cerevisiae with the metabolic flexibility to utilize (and ferment) two major sugars that are present in pretreated lignocellulosic biomass: (1) glucose and (2) xylose. Native Saccharomyces cerevisiae is mainly a "glucose utilizer", and it does not have a metabolic capability to utilize xylose, an abundant pentose (i.e. 5-carbon) sugar in pretreated lignocellulosic biomass. Molecular biology techniques have been able to develop recombinant S. cerevisiae strains which can utilize and ferment xylose to ethanol. However, many of these strains have low fermentation yields. One problem reportedly lies in the transport of xylose to the cell. Lund University (Sweden) scientists report that in xylose-utilizing recombinant S. cerevisiae strains, xylose is "transported by non-specific hexose transporters with poor affinity for xylose". The inefficient transport of xylose in the cell inevitably results in low utilization and low ethanol yields. There have been recent reports of improved transport and utilization of xylose by "independent expression of heterologous transport", (Gxf1, Sut1, and At5g5920)". However, the studies were reported in different strains. Lund University scientist, David Runquist and colleagues investigated the three transporters under identical growth conditions. A direct relationship between the transport kinetics of the individual transporters and xylose utilization was observed, under "transport limited conditions". The results also "point to the importance of designing an appropriate co-fermentation strategy for industrial ethanol fermentation from lignocellulosic biomass". The full study is published in the online access journal, Biotechnology for Biofuels (URL above)..

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http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state/newsdetail.cfm?NewsID=17354
http://www.thebioenergysite.com/news/5787/first-parasitic-nematodes-in-biofuel-crops

A press release from the University of Illinois Extension website reports that "Researchers at the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) at the University of Illinois (United States) have discovered widespread occurrence of plant-parasitic nematodes in the first reported nematode survey of Miscanthus and switchgrass plants used for biofuels". Miscanthus and switchgrass are considered promising "second-generation (lignocellulosic) feedstocks" (in the grass category) for biofuel ethanol production. The nematode survey was conducted between 2008 and 2009 from Miscanthus and switchgrass plots in Illinois, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, South Dakota and Tennessee. The survey team led by post-doctoral research associate, Tesfamariam Mekete, found two nematode species that have been reported to reduce biomass in most monocotyledon hosts. Although the "damaging thresholds" in the target grasses are still unknown, the population densities of these nematodes (when compared to other monocotyledon hosts) may present a potential risk to biofuels production. According to Mekete, "The high levels of nematodes found in our survey and the damage symptoms observed in infected roots suggest that parasitism may contribute to the decline of biomass production". Damage thresholds of lesion, root-knot and needle nematodes to Miscanthus and switchgrass under greenhouse conditions, are now being studied by the researchers. "Future studies will include host suitability and population dynamics of the most prevalent nematodes associated with these perennial grasses"..

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http://www.wageningenuniversity.nl/UK/newsagenda/news/Wageningen_UR_to_build_research_facility_for_algae.htm http://www.thebioenergysite.com/news/5836/algae-research-facility-for-wageningen-ur

Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) (Netherlands) has announced that construction work for the Algae Production And Research Centre (AlgaePARC) at the Wageningen Campus will commence. The facility (which is scheduled to be operational this year) is a pilot scale research center, seen to "bridge the gap between the fundamental research on a laboratory scale and the industrial production of algae", for food, biofuels and chemical applications. According to the Wageningen University press release, the AlgaePARC will start with the following algae cultivation systems in an area measuring 25 square meters: (1) an open pond, (2) two types of tubular reactors and plastic film bioreactors, and (4) a number of smaller systems for the testing of new technologies. The construction of the AlgaePARC was made possible by funds from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (1.5 million) and the Provincial Government of Gelderland (0.75 million)..

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http://www.thebioenergysite.com/news/5828/msu-extension-research-biofuel-croplands

The bioenergysite website reports that the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth (DELEG, in the United States) awarded a grant to the Michigan State University (MSU) Extension, to "look into the feasibility of planting crops that could be used for biofuels on non-traditional croplands such as Michigan roadways, vacant lots and state-owned pieces of land". One component of the research is the mapping of non-traditional crop land areas within Michigan State for growing energy crops. According to Charles Gould, an MSU Extension educator, "We're looking at the side of roads, we're looking at airports, we're looking at brownfields, vacant lots, really anything that currently is growing weeds. Research also will be conducted on the types of energy crops that could be grown and the economic costs and benefits of growing the crops on nontraditional land". Among the expected outputs of the research (which is scheduled to finish by September 2010) are: (1) a Geographic Information System (GIS) that shows the potential growth sites for bioenergy crops, and (2) a report which will contain an estimate of available land areas that are available for bioenergy crop production, and an assessment of the potential barriers and issues..