Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a new enzyme that will enable microbial production of a renewable alternative to petroleum-based toluene, a widely used octane booster in gasoline that has a global market of twenty nine million tons per year.
JBEI Scientists Explore Novel Enzyme for Aromatic Biofuel Synthesis
In a Scientific Reports (Nature) paper entitled “In vitro characterization of phenylacetate decarboxylase, a novel enzyme catalyzing toluene biosynthesis in an anaerobic microbial community”, researchers at JBEI investigated an enzyme that could enable first-time biochemical production of the widely used octane booster, toluene. Read more on the JBEI website.
Using Hydrogen Sulfide and CO2 to Drive Production of Renewable Fuels and Chemicals
In a Metabolic Engineering Communications paper entitled “Enhanced fatty acid production in engineered chemolithoautotrophic bacteria using reduced sulfur compounds as energy sources” researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have demonstrated a promising biological approach to convert nuisance chemicals in municipal wastewater (sewage) treatment plants into renewable fuels or chemicals. Read more on the JBEI website.
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