ARS researchers says GM baker’s year can prevent costly ethanol plant shutdowns

In Illinois, ever on the lookout for new ways to improve the fermentation of corn sugars into ethanol fuel, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have devised an approach for using genetically modified baker’s yeast to prevent a top cause of costly ethanol plant shutdowns—namely, contamination by unwelcome bacteria.

A paper detailing the advance is published in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.

Scientists modified the yeast’s genetic makeup with “coding” to make an enzyme on its outer surface that kills or inhibits the growth of the bacteria—microbial rivals whose release of acetic and lactic acids can keep the fermentation process from achieving its peak ethanol production capacity.