UW-Madison researchers find red pigment can improve isobutanol production

In Wisconsin, a compound that has scientists seeing red may hold the key to engineering yeasts that produce better biofuels.

A red pigment called pulcherrimin, naturally produced by several strains of wild yeasts, is synthesized in part through the same biochemical pathway that researchers hope to use to improve production of isobutanol, a promising biofuel alternative to ethanol. In research published this week (Oct. 8, 2018) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team based at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center describe the genetic machinery that yeasts use to make pulcherrimin, which binds iron, an essential nutrient. The work is a key step toward harnessing the synthesis pathway for large-scale production of isobutanol as a biofuel.