The found enzyme will solve the problem of biofuels. Free Technical Library News

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Found enzyme will solve the problem of biofuel

18.08.2013

Scientists have discovered an enzyme that increases the production of biofuels from plant materials by several times. Perhaps this discovery will make renewable fuels competitive with oil.

An international team of scientists from VIB and Ghent University (Belgium), the University of Dundee (UK), the James Hutton Institute (UK) and the University of Wisconsin (USA) have discovered a new gene responsible for the process of lignin biosynthesis. This is a very important discovery, since lignin is the only obstacle to cheap biofuels.

Lignin is the main component of the secondary cell wall of a plant. This substance prevents the efficient processing of biomass into fuel. The plant cell wall is composed primarily of lignin and sugar molecules such as cellulose. It is cellulose that can be converted into glucose, which, in turn, is processed by fermentation into alcohol (the basis of fuel). Unfortunately, because of lignin, this is not easy to do, since lignin firmly holds sugar molecules together. In nature, this provides stiffness to plant stems, which can thus grow upwards. The removal of lignin requires energy-intensive and environmentally harmful industrial processes, which makes biofuels expensive and sometimes even more environmentally damaging than petroleum.

If a quick and cheap way to remove lignin could be found, or if plants could be developed with a minimum of lignin and a maximum of fast growing biomass, then this would give a powerful impetus to progress in the field of green energy.

For many years, researchers have studied lignin biosynthetic pathways in plants. An international team of scientists studying this issue on Arabidopsis plants (Arabidopsis thaliana) has discovered a new enzyme responsible for the production of lignin. This enzyme, called caffeoyl shikimate esterase or CSE, plays a central role in lignin biosynthesis. Disabling the gene responsible for the production of CSE reduces the amount of lignin in the plant by 36%.

In addition, even the lignin that remains in the plant has an altered structure and is more easily removed from the plant. As a result, disabling the CSE gene increases the efficiency of direct conversion of cellulose to glucose from pretreated plant biomass by 4 times: from 18% in control plants to 78% in CSE mutant plants.

Scientists have achieved great success in improving the efficiency of converting biomass into fuel. Currently, scientists are working on turning laboratory experiments into an industrial process. Technologically, it is not so difficult, the main thing is to get all the permits for growing genetically modified plants. Most likely, initially, natural fast-growing plants rich in cellulose, such as poplar, eucalyptus or millet, will be used as raw materials.

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The reaction to a cigarette depends on the ideas about its composition. 21.09.2016

Scientists from the University of Texas at Dallas found that the brain's response to nicotine is not only directly related to its content in cigarettes, but also to a person's subjective idea of a cigarette. So, if a person smokes ordinary cigarettes, but is sure that they contain a low content of nicotine, his craving for smoking is not satisfied, says a press release from the university.

The scientists used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record neural activity in the insular cortex, an area of the brain that plays an important role in regulating functions such as body perception and overall sense of self. The same area is associated with drug cravings.

The experiment involved 24 nicotine-dependent smokers. During four visits, participants received nicotine-containing cigarettes twice and placebo twice. About the composition of each type of cigarette they were once told the truth and once - the exact opposite. Thus, there were four types of situations: on the one hand, the participant can be deceived, i.e. he believes that the cigarette contains nicotine, but in fact he receives a placebo, or vice versa, he is sure that there is no nicotine in the cigarette, although in fact there is; and, on the other hand, he receives correct information, that is, the participant believes that the cigarette does not contain nicotine and there really is none there, or he is sure that there is nicotine - and his expectations correspond to reality.

In addition to assessing brain activity using fMRI, each participant was asked to rate their level of craving for cigarettes before and after smoking. Analysis of the data showed that increased activity in the insular cortex was present when the subject received the nicotine containing cigarette and believed he had received it. When the subject smoked an ordinary cigarette, but was sure that it was a placebo, such brain activity was not observed.

The researchers believe that understanding the psychological component of nicotine addiction will help develop effective methods of dealing with it.

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