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).

Now the National Science Foundation has ponied up 2 million dollars to see if the research can be advanced to a stage where a bio-fuel can be produced from wood chips with the help of the endophytic fungus Gliocladium roseum. According to MSU receives $2 million to further study diesel-producing South American fungus:

Peyton, Strobel and biological engineering professor Ross Carlson will coordinate their research with Yale professors Mitchell Smooke and Scott Strobel — Gary Strobel’s son — who are mapping the fungus’s genes to learn just how it produces its hydrocarbon-rich vapors.

MSU will use that genetic information to experiment with the fungus’s growing conditions, attempting to get G. roseum to produce hydrocarbons as fast as possible, Peyton said.

“If it takes a ton of wood chips to make a gallon of fuel, that’s one thing. If you can make a half ton of fuel from a ton of chips, that’s another thing … that’s part of what we are trying to find out,” he said.

More on Gliocladium and mycodiesel:

Myco-diesel: The Mushroom Powered Car (uh, no…)

Mycodiesel at Small Things Considered

Obscure Fungus Produced Diesel Fuel Components (from NSF)

Gliocladium  Taxonomy