The 35 Most Bizarre Things ever used to make biofuels

13. From amongst the Archaea

Biologists at Berkeley and the University of Maryland discovered a microbe in a Nevada hot spring that has an enzyme that processes cellulose and remains active at a record 109 degrees Celsius (228 degrees Fahrenheit), significantly above the 100„ƒ (212„‰) boiling point of water. The microbe, a member of the Archaea – a kingdom of organisms distinct from bacteria and prokaryotes (the latter including algae, yeast, fungi, plants, and humans too), was discovered in a 95„ƒ (203„‰) geothermal pool, is only the second member of the ancient Archaea known to grow by digesting cellulose above 80„ƒ. And the microbe’s cellulase is the most heat tolerant enzyme found in any cellulose-digesting microbe.

3 Pests

1. Potato blight

Those whose family chronicles make reference to the Great Irish Potato Famine of 1845-49 and the subsequent starvation of more than 1 million and the emigration of at least another million – may take some comfort in the fact that a cousin of the infective microbial agent responsible for the potato blight, Phytophthora infestans, has been discovered in the Rocky Mountain snowfields and may have some transformative impact on biofuels development down the line. A new strain of yellow-green algae, heterococcus sp. DN1, as examined in the pages of Biotechnology Progress, is found to grow at temperatures approaching freezing and to accumulate large intracellular stores of lipids. T Among the various extremophiles being sought by industry, there’s none so eagerly sought as much as a strain of algae that thrives in cold weather. Accordingly, finding a good candidate strain in a snowfield – well, it’s quite an achievement.