CABBI researchers develop quick way to evaluate microbes for renewable fuels

May 20, 2020 |

In Illinois, scientists engineering valuable microbes for renewable fuels and bioproducts have developed a fast, efficient way to identify the most promising varieties.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign developed a novel mass spectrometry-based screening technique to rapidly profile medium-chain fatty acids produced in yeast — part of a larger group of free fatty acids that are key components in essential nutrients, soaps, industrial chemicals, and fuels. They also identified seven new genetically engineered mutants of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that produce higher levels of those fatty acids.

The study is detailed in a paper published in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering. The research was performed at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), a U.S. Department of Energy-funded Bioenergy Research Center, by two U of I professors.

Category: Research

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