UoI researchers find key cellulosic ethanol bacterium in garbage dump

In Illinois, researchers at the University of Illinois have located a bacterium in a garbage dump that they believe can be used to break down both cellulose and hemicellulose. The researchers are very excited about the enzymes that this bacterium because it contains all of the proteins and enzymes needed to break down xylan, which is the most common hemicellulose, and then to transport the fragments into the cell and metabolize them. All of the genes are located in a single cluster on the microbe’s genome.