Fungal Processes for Direct Bioconversion of Cellulose to Hydrocarbons

As the scarcity of renewable feedstocks intensifies, it will become more important to utilize waste streams such as cellulosic biomass.  An endophytic fungus, Ascocoryne sarcoides NRRL50072, has been shown to degrade cellulose and produce a hydrocarbon mixture termed “mycodiesel.”   The aims of this model cellulose-to-hydrocarbons system are  i)identify key metabolic pathways for production of hydrocarbons using elementary flux mode analysis, ii)validate the model using experimental optimization data, and iii)determine optimal conditions for expression of those pathways or ideal deletion sets to maximize production of hydrocarbon.  Additionally, combustion accounts for 2/3 of petroleum usage, and there is a potential for improvement in thermal efficiency by 25% to 50% through investments in fuel/engine concepts, with 7.3 billion barrels of oil per year ($550B), there is a potential savings of 3 million barrels of oil per day (out of 20M).  Given the long-term use of liquid and gaseous fuels, it is clear that a coordinated experimental and computational program is needed to model combustion in both laminar and turbulent systems with the goals of enhancing efficiency and reducing pollutant formation.  This work has begun developing such a program using fuel mixtures relevant to the fungal synthesized mycodiesel.