University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers make strides for dual-cheimcal production from biomass

In Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have engineered bacteria that can produce two chemical products at the same time from underutilized plant fiber. And unlike humans, these multitasking microbes can do both things equally well.

The discovery, detailed in a paper in the December issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, could help make biofuels more sustainable and commercially viable.

Scientists with GLBRC have studied a bacterium named Novosphingobium aromaticivorans (sometimes referred to as simply Novo), which can digest many components of lignin and is relatively easy to genetically modify.