Shiitake Mushroom Gene Secret to Xylanase Enzyme

From Agricultural Research Service news release:

The Shiitake mushroom thrive on downed wood on the forest floors, turning it into sugars that they use for food.  The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is studying a Shiitake gene that's key to the mushrooms ability to dissolve wood.  Called Xyn11A, the gene carries the instructions that the mushroom uses to make an enzyme known as xylanase. The researchers want to see if a ramped-up version of the gene could be put to work digesting rice hulls or other harvest leftovers.

If enzymes can do that quickly and efficiently in huge vats, or fermenters, at biorefineries, they could help make ethanol and other products a practical alternative to today’s petroleum-based fuels, for example.  In laboratory experiments, they transferred the Xyn11A gene into yeast. Equipped with the gene, the yeast was able to produce xylanase. In nature, the yeast normally can’t do that.

Next, the scientists will work on engineering the mushroom gene so that it enables yeast or some other organism to produce greater amounts of the xylanase enzyme in less time. Gains in efficiency could help make biorefining of plant-based fuels and other products a practical alternative to petroleum refining.

The use of a cost effective enzyme to convert cellulosic matter into sugars, prior to fermentation, is a key technology that has not been demonstrated on a commercial scale.  Iogen of Canada has developed such an enzyme that they are using in a  inhouse demonstration plant, but they have not announced any commercial sales.  Novozymes, a Danish company announced that they had reduced the cost of an enzyme by a factor of 30, but no ethanol plants using this enzyme have been announced.  There appears to be room for further improvements in this technology, perhaps this ARS research will lead to a true breakthrough in this area.  Other technologies are competing with enzymes.  Acid pretreatment is planned to be used in a plant producing ethanol from rice straw in California which is scheduled to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2006.  Xethanol, previous post, is using "disaggregation technology to micronize and separate the various fractions".  What, if any, pretreatment is used prior to fermentation has not been disclosed. They are developing their process on two small commercial ethanol plants that they operate.

Resource: Shiitake Mushrooms' Secret May Benefit Earth Friendly Fuels, Agricultural Research Service, News & Events, November 29, 2005

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Comments

[Dave]

Eat Shiitake

[Shiitake]

I've really heard a lot about this.. But cant get hold of these..
https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=817789614&email=7cff47bb7cdcb76fbfa15e66c81a1961