University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers boost ethanol production via yeast fermentation

In Illinois, scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found a way to boost ethanol production via yeast fermentation, a standard method for converting plant sugars into biofuels. Their approach, detailed in the journal Nature Communications, relies on careful timing and a tight division of labor among synthetic yeast strains to yield more ethanol per unit of plant sugars than previous approaches have achieved. Glucose and xylose are the two most abundant sugars obtained from the breakdown of plant biomass such as agricultural wastes. The team was trying to overcome a common problem that occurs when using yeast to convert these plant sugars into ethanol.