Can produce diesel fuel from mushrooms

Many fungi cause plants to produce a mixture of hydrocarbons - chemical compounds that are very similar to the composition of fuels. That allows them to think about splitting genes from fungal DNA to transplant into microbes' genes and use them to turn wood-based substances into fuel.

High oil and gas prices have forced developed countries around the world to look for alternative energy sources. The world has used nuclear, tidal and wind energy to generate electricity, although it is not possible to turn billions of cars around the world using electricity instead of gasoline. Motor vehicles or electric motor gear may also be available only in the city, but cannot be transported over long distances or into commercial farming jobs.

Alternative fuels based on ethanol, produced from corn or sugarcane, do not solve the problem because producing 1 liter of ethanol also requires an equal amount of crude hydrocarbons.

The eucryphia tree grows wild in South Africa.(Photo: Chileflora)

It is now hoped to solve the problem by parasitic micro fungi living in wood to break the chemical bond (decomposition) of cellulose to create a hydrocarbon mixture. The cellulose of wood is the most promising in the production of fuel, but its durable structure is difficult to decompose, requiring special enzymes for the process.

Scientists have discovered that Gliocladium roseum often lives on parasites in South Africa's eucryphia plants that can meet this requirement.When disintegrating cellulose, fungi produce hydrocarbons such as decane, 4-methylxyclohexane, undecane, octane and benzene . The chemical compounds in this mixture are very similar to diesel and can certainly replace diesel fuel well.

Researchers at the University of Montana (USA), who discovered this admits that the small amount of products produced by fungi is not enough to run even a tractor. However, its significance is not to use direct fungi but to conduct an analysis to find the genes that can degrade cellulose into oil and transplant these genes into new microorganisms. producing diesel oil from wood with industrial output.