Tree-living fungus that manufactures diesel could be new source of green energy

A tree-living fungus that manufactures diesel fuel has been discovered in South America.

Experts believe the organism, Gliocladium roseum, could potentially be a completely new source of green energy.

The fungus, which lives inside the Ulmo tree in the Patagonian rainforest, naturally produces hydrocarbon fuel similar to the diesel used in cars and trucks.

Scientists were amazed to find that it was able to convert plant cellulose directly into the biofuel, dubbed 'myco-diesel'.

Crops normally have to converted to sugar and ferment before they can be turned into useful fuel.

Professor Gary Strobel, from Montana State University in the U.S., said: 'G. roseum can make myco-diesel directly from cellulose, the main compound found in plants and paper.

'This means if the fungus was used to make fuel, a step in the production process could be skipped.'

Prof Strobel led an investigation into novel fungi in the rainforests of northern Patagonia, which cross the borders of Argentina and Chile.

He found that when the diesel fuel fungus was exposed to potentially toxic antibiotics, it reacted defensively by generating volatile gases.

'Then when we examined the gas composition of G. roseum, we were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives,' said Prof Strobel.

'The results were totally unexpected and very exciting and almost every hair on my arms stood on end.'

Cellulose provides the fibrous supporting structure of plants. During biofuel production, cellulose from plant waste is first treated with enzymes that turn it into sugar. Microbes then ferment the sugar into inflammable ethanol.

Nearly 430 million tonnes of plant waste is produced from farmland each year around the world.

Prof Strobel said: 'We were very excited to discover that G. roseum can digest cellulose. Although the fungus makes less myco-diesel when it feeds on cellulose compared to sugars, new developments in fermentation technology and genetic manipulation could help improve the yield.

'In fact, the genes of the fungus are just as useful as the fungus itself in the development of new biofuels.

'The discovery also questions our knowledge of the way fossil fuels are made. The accepted theory is that crude oil, which is used to make diesel, is formed from the remains of dead plants and animals that have been exposed to heat and pressure for millions of years.

'If fungi like this are producing myco-diesel all over the rainforest, they may have contributed to the formation of fossil fuels.'

The findings appear in the November issue of the journal Microbiology.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Categories

Amazing (83) Humor (47) weird (44) Interesting (43) cool (40) Incredible (34) beautiful (26) Animal (20) World News (19) wonderful (18) Dogs (15) Crazy Stuff (13) Nasa (11) believe it or not (11) Strange (10) Bizarre (9) Science (9) unusual (9) Amazing Fact (8) Artwork (8) awesome (8) Baby (7) Interesting fact (6) Ugliest Dog (6) World (6) Amazing Animals (5) Amazingly (5) Cat (5) Pets and Animal (5) Woman (5) Daredevil (4) Games (4) Horse (4) Man (4) Monster (4) Pregnant man (4) Technology (4) fattest man (4) space (4) Amazing photo (3) Britney Spears (3) Car (3) Cow (3) Dolphins (3) Fat (3) Fishing (3) Health and Fitness (3) Miscellenous (3) Monkey (3) Oldest (3) Shark (3) record breaking (3) sea (3) spider (3) wedding (3) woman's skill (3) Aeroplane (2) Aliens (2) Amy Winehouse (2) Angelina Jolie (2) Beer (2) Black Scorpion (2) Breakthrough Thinking (2) Britney (2) Cancer (2) Children (2) Chinese (2) Cigarette (2) Classic Cars (2) Current Events (2) Design (2) Dung Beetles (2) Eiffel Tower (2) Electric guitar (2) Elephant (2) Exotic fish (2) Expensive (2) Extraordinary (2) Faces (2) Family (2) Fashion (2) Fat Boy (2) Fergie (2) Food (2) Giant (2) Grand Father (2) Guinness Book (2) Guinness World Records (2) Halloween (2) Historical Perspectives (2) Hot Issues (2) Human Tiger (2) Human being (2) Koala bear (2) Latest News (2) Latest Trend (2) Leg (2) Life on Mars (2) Married (2) Medical (2) Medical Breakthrough (2) Mother (2) Motor Vehicle (2) Nature (2) Nature errors (2) New Discoveries (2) New Discovery (2) New Drug (2) Olympic (2) People Making a Difference (2) Photo Perspectives (2) Robot (2) Rubbish (2) Scientist (2) Sheep (2) Snake-girl (2) Sound (2) Stunts (2) Tattoos (2) Technology News (2) Telephone (2) Travelling (2) Tree (2) UFO (2) Venus (2) Wild Animal (2) X-ray (2) Zoo (2) biggest horse (2) face (2) jewellery (2) mystery man (2) photographer (2) plane (2) pumpkin (2) puppies (2) satellites (2) sexy (2) species (2) swimming pool (2) volcano (2) whale (2) 14 spoons (1) 400m plunge (1) Agriculture (1) Airlines (1) Albert Einstein (1) Albino Animals (1) Alcohol (1) Alesha Dixon (1) Alizee Poulicek (1) Amazing landmark (1) Amazing pictures (1) American dream (1) Amputee (1) Ancient city (1) Andes (1) Anti-terror (1) Antibiotics (1) Apples (1) Architecture (1) BBC (1) BMW (1) Baldy (1) Balloons (1) Bangkok (1) Beaten (1) Bicycles (1) Big Problems (1) Big Shotz (1) BigDog (1) Biofuels (1) Bionic leg (1) Bizarre Fashion (1) Black magic (1) Body builder (1) Bound (1) Brad and Angelina (1) Bread (1) Brick Art (1) Britain (1) British Journalism (1) British sport (1) Brown Bears (1) Bubble-wrap (1) Bullet (1) Burmese python (1) C (1) Carrot (1) Cat Man (1) Celebrity (1) Chihuahua foetus (1) Chimps (1) Christina Aguilera (1) Circle (1) Circus (1) Climate (1) Cloud Formations (1) Council (1) Council workmen (1) Court (1) Crab (1) Credit (1) Credit crunched (1) Crispy Duck (1) Crows (1) Cruise ship (1) Cubans poach (1) Curvy Martine McCutcheon (1) Custom (1) Diabolical (1) Diamond (1) Diesel (1) Disclaimer (1) Dog Brain (1) Dog Liver (1) Dordogne River (1) Dresses (1) Driftwood sculpture (1) Dummy lenses (1) Dustbin (1) Eagle (1) Earthquake (1) Eggstrordinary (1) Electrochemistry (1) Elephants (1) Eminem’s (1) Entertainment (1) Explosive power (1) FOUR Ears (1) Faith (1) Famous (1) Fancy (1) Farmland (1) Fashion craze (1) Female Trainers (1) Fermented (1) Ferrari (1) Festival (1) Firefly (1) Fitness (1) Flintstones (1) Football (1) Footloose (1) Frankfurt (1) Frenzy (1) Fungus (1) Funny (1) Gang (1) Gannets (1) Gateway of India (1) Genetic mutation (1) Ghost (1) Giant Squid (1) Giant squash (1) Global warming (1) Gold Medal (1) Gold chain (1) Gorilla (1) Gost Lungs (1) Grand Canyon (1) Grandchildren (1) Graveyard (1) Great New Product (1) Green energy (1) Gymnastics (1) Haiti earthquake (1) Half-tonne (1) Handbrake (1) Helicopter (1) Hell (1) Hernia (1) Heron (1) Hi-tech (1) Highest Cities (1) Himalayas (1) Historic statue (1) Holy Quran (1) Hope (1) Horrific.vile (1) Horro (1) Horrors (1) Horse Stew (1) Hottest Chilli (1) House (1) Houses (1) Hunting (1) Ice Age (1) Icebergs (1) Icy pond (1) Illicit Use of Drugs (1) Incidents Involving Firearms (1) Insects (1) Iron (1) Italian (1) Japanese Monkey (1) Jennifer Aniston (1) Jennifer Anistonं (1) Jessica Alba (1) Jessica Simpson Nude (1) Jesus (1) Jetpack (1) Jolie (1) Jordan (1) Jules (1) Kim Cattrall (1) Kissing (1) Kiteboarder (1) Korea’s (1) Lake (1) Landmine.Injury (1) Largest Breast (1) Largest Giants (1) Lemon Shark (1) Lindsay Lohan (1) Lindsay Lohan lesbian (1) Little (1) Lorraine Kelly (1) Lounging lizards (1) Love-sick (1) MARZIPAN BABIES (1) MRSA (1) Malaysian tower (1) Manchester. (1) March (1) Mars (1) Meat (1) Metal (1) Microbial (1) Microlight (1) Montauk Monster (1) Mr Berlusconi (1) Mugger (1) Murphy and Edmonds (1) Mushrooms (1) Muslim (1) Muslim extremists (1) Mysterious (1) NOSE (1) Naan (1) Naked Superfood (1) National Park (1) Natural Breast (1) Neck (1) Necklace (1) Network (1) New Viewpoints (1) Next 9/11 (1) Nicole Kidman (1) Oar Fish (1) Obese (1) Octopus (1) Official stamp (1) Oldest mum (1) Optical illusion (1) Orphan deer (1) PLANT LIFE (1) Pakistan (1) Penguin (1) Pensioner (1) Peter Jaeckel (1) Physical Inactivity (1) Pilgrims (1) Politics (1) Pony (1) Poor Diet (1) Poorest Countries (1) Prime Minister (1) Pumpkins (1) Purdeys Drink (1) Quotes (1) Red Bull Cola (1) Red Peppers (1) Rice (1) Robodog (1) Rodeos (1) Royal park (1) Rubbish Art (1) Russian Art (1) Sales (1) Sandwich (1) Schoenbrunn (1) Science fan (1) Scientists (1) Sea Serpent (1) SeaHorse Skewers (1) Sealife (1) Security (1) Sharks (1) Shell (1) Shoal (1) Sick (1) Sign (1) Silk Worm (1) Sip (1) Skin Cancer (1) Skydivers (1) Slaughter (1) Smallest girl (1) Smallest man (1) Smashing news (1) Snow sculpture (1) South Rim (1) Sparked fury (1) Spectacular (1) Spider Rock (1) Spooktacular (1) Sport (1) Squatter Camp (1) St Pancras (1) Stars (1) Statue of Liberty (1) Stunning (1) Sugar (1) Surfer (1) Surgeons (1) Surrogate mother (1) TONNES (1) Teenager (1) Tennessee (1) Thailand (1) The Jungle (1) Thomas Beatie (1) Thorax (1) Tiny premature (1) Titanic (1) Tobacco (1) Toilets (1) Tomb Art (1) Top 10 Entertainmen (1) Tower Bridge (1) Toxic (1) Train suicide (1) Triangle (1) Triplets (1) Truck (1) Tumble (1) Turtle (1) Twin brothers (1) Ugliest cat (1) Unusual technique (1) Vegetables (1) Vehicles (1) Victoria Beckham (1) Victoria’s Defence (1) Victory Column (1) Vodafone (1) Washing Machine (1) Watched (1) Water-Ice (1) Weatherman (1) White House (1) World's oldest man (1) Wrestling (1) Zoos (1) abandoned places (1) aircraft (1) aquarium (1) beach (1) beaver (1) biggest egg (1) body weight (1) boobs (1) bronze statue (1) burglars (1) charmers (1) chase (1) chest (1) cocooned parasitic (1) corals (1) craziest stunts (1) crowded बार (1) cycling race (1) damaged Airport (1) dazzling (1) deep canyon (1) disco (1) discover (1) dragon millipede (1) dramatic Pictures (1) face plant (1) fall (1) foolishness (1) fox (1) gemstones (1) guitars (1) heavens (1) hedgehogs (1) hippo (1) history (1) huntsman spider (1) intaranet (1) jumpers (1) jupitar (1) kangaroo (1) kitten (1) landmarks (1) leaves (1) lens (1) life-saving (1) lights (1) lobster (1) lonely (1) longest legs (1) loudspeaker (1) memphis (1) monsters (1) motorcycle (1) new video (1) nine-year-old (1) ocean (1) oddball (1) open brain coral (1) pandas (1) parkour (1) peacock (1) phone (1) photografy (1) pilot (1) pirate dog (1) planet (1) pole (1) regardless (1) runway (1) sex scenes (1) sex war (1) sexy full-body (1) skeletons (1) skinsuit (1) sky black (1) slasher movie (1) sleep (1) smallest bird (1) smile (1) starlings (1) stone-ishing (1) stuntman (1) sunset (1) surfing (1) surreal (1) swimmer (1) swimsuits (1) telegraph (1) tentacles (1) tissue (1) traceurs (1) transgender (1) twins (1) vistas (1) washing line (1) wetsuit (1) white deer (1) world record (1) world's smallest bodybuilder (1)