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Juiced-up bug builds better biofuel

petrol bowser

The researchers say the long-chained alcohol delivers more energy, doesn't corrode the engine and is more compatible with jet fuel or diesel (Source: Sergio Moraes/Reuters)

US researchers have engineered a synthetic version of the common E. coli bacteria that could help build a better biofuel, according to a new study.

By altering the basic genetic structure of the bacteria, researchers were able to stimulate it to produce long-chain alcohols that are denser in energy than those found in nature.

Ethanol, one of the leading sources of biofuel, contains just two carbon atoms, and the most common naturally-produced long-chain alcohols contain no more than five carbon atoms.

But according to a study by researchers from University of California, Los Angeles, which appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, alcohols produced by the modified E. coli strain contain up to eight carbon atoms.

These long-chain alcohols are also relatively easy to separate from water and contain a lot more energy.

"Longer chain alcohol has several advantages," says lead researcher Professor James Liao. "It packs more energy per gallon, doesn't corrode the engine and it's more compatible with jet fuel or diesel fuel."

This is the first time researchers have been able to synthesise long-chain alcohol.


Liao's team did so by inserting chromosomes into E. coli DNA, which enabled it to overproduce a natural, elongated version of a compound that becomes an amino acid.

Two additional genes on the chromosomes encoded enzymes that converted the elongated compound to a six-carbon alcohol.

"The next step is to develop it in large enough compound quantities and then hand it over to a company for development," says Liao.

"It's not trivial ... we need to optimise the pathway, optimise the process and optimise the conditions."

However, the results do show promise for producing a number of different long-chain alcohols, he says.

Tags: transport, biotechnology, gm-technology, air-transport, road-transport