MycoRant

Sprorangium of Mucor species (Luigi Chiesa/Wiki Commons)

Strobel’s mycodiesel project maybe getting some competition from researchers in Spain according to Direct Production of Biodiesel from the Fungus M. circinelloides; Opportunity to Enhance Yield with Genetic Engineering:

Researchers in Spain have demonstrated the direct transformation of biomass consisting of the fungus M. circinelloides into biodiesel compliant with ASTM D6751 and EN14213 and 14214 standards.

Mucor circinelloides, a fungus in the Zygomycota,  is amenable to genetic manipulation so it may be a promising candidate for development as a fuel production organism. Fungi in the genus Mucor are related to the common bread mold Rhizopus.

The research was originally reported in the paper Direct Transformation of Fungal Biomass from Submerged Cultures into Biodiesel, appearing in the American Chemical Society journal Energy and Fuels. The abstract of the paper is available on line but no full text access. In part, the abstract reads:

We show here that the biomass from submerged cultures of the oleaginous fungus M. circinelloides can be used to produce biodiesel by acid-catalyzed direct transformation, without previous extraction of the lipids. Direct transformation, which should mean a cost savings for biodiesel production, increased lipid extraction and demonstrated that structural lipids, in addition to energy storage lipids, can be transformed into FAMEs. Moreover, the analyzed properties of the M. circinelloides-derived biodiesel using three different catalysts (BF₃, H₂SO₄, and HCl) fulfilled the specifications established by the American standards and most of the European standard specifications.

There is plenty of work going on around the world with respect to biofuels, and a lot of it seems directed toward getting away from using substrates that are also human food commodities (like corn). When will the research payoff? Probably not for some time (as in many years).

Tags: biodiesel, biofuel, Mucor, mycodiesel