JBEI team boosts methyl ketone production 4000X in e.coli – new biofuel options?

In California, JBEI researchers have engineered an E.Coli bacteria to generate significant quantities of methyl ketone compounds from glucose. In subsequent tests, these methyl ketones yielded high cetane numbers (a diesel fuel rating comparable to the octane number for gasoline) making them strong candidates for the production of advanced biofuels.

Harry Beller, a JBEI microbiologist who led this study, said “We’re especially encouraged by our finding that it is possible to increase the methyl ketone titer production of E. coli more than 4,000-fold with a relatively small number of genetic modifications.”