Missoula (MT) - Gary A. Strobel, professor of plant pathology at Montana State University, has recently published his findings on a type of microscopic fungus living in trees, called Gliocladium roseum, which naturally gives off components of rocket fuel and diesel fuel. Strobel believes organisms like these which shed raw hydrocarbon components could be partially responsible for the vast underground oceans of crude oil we have today. In addition, he also sees them as a path toward new ways of producing bio-fuels. Could the fungus among us be the key in a tree which powers our needs to eternity?




Hydrocarbon components

According to the press release, "The harmless, microscopic fungus, known as Gliocladium roseum (NRRL 50073), lives quietly within ulmo trees in the Patagonian rainforest," which is in Chile.

When first discovered, the fungus was emitting annulene, a component of rocket fuel. Strobel has since discovered that altering the fungus's environment coaxes it into producing different kinds of byproducts, including octane and heptane which are two components of diesel fuel. In addition, when oxygen levels are brought low the fungus does not die, but begins to behave like those living deep underground.






Bruce Hamilton, program director of the National Science Foundation's division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems, said "Dr. Strobel's research on a microbial route from biomass to hydrocarbon-based fuels is resulting in very exciting findings. This is a promising area of biofuels research, and it is wonderful to see his work move so rapidly into peer-reviewed, published literature."

While there's still a long way go before we find out if fuels can be created from the byproducts of this fungus, or if they can be harvested in sufficient numbers to truly be an alternate fuel source, finding a fungus capable of generating raw fuel components is a huge step in the right direction.

There are other notable potential sources of alternate bio-fuels. Two leading sources are a nut plant from India, which is 50% vegetable oil by weight. It is currently being researched for mass production in California. There's also a form of seawater algae which is 50% oil by weight, which has the advantage of being able to be grown in tankes placed where there is otherwise useless land, such as deserts where sunlight is abundant to power the filtration, mixing, salination and temperature controls.


Additional information

Strobel's findings were published in the November, 2008 issue of Microbiology. He is continuing this research in conjunction with his son, who is chair of Yale University's department of molecular biophysics and biochemistry. Read more at Montana State University's faculty page on Dr. Gary A. Strobel. There are several links on this page on myco-diesel, endophytes and Gliocladium roseum, including MP3 downloads and coverage on NPR.

...the "Fungus among us"

Nov 07, 2008 08:35     

Nice Incubus reference :) While it may be sweet to be able to manufacture rocket & diesel fuels from "scratch", as it were, the burning of said fuels is still grossly inefficient, and really shoddy for the environment. We'll eventually kill the damn fungus that grows this stuff by burning their "product"...
steve.h report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Heptane and Octane

Nov 07, 2008 10:47     

Are components of gasoline, not diesel? Funny though - i'd always wondered how the stuff was naturally produced, i suppose something like this only makes sense. Wander what rate this production could be ran at - enough to supplant the mid east? lol.
Christopher report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

So, fuel burning will continue. What about global w...

Nov 07, 2008 11:08     

So, fuel burning will continue. What about global warming? If science prediction are correct soon very bad things will happen.
r_1 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -6

Global Warming = Hoax

Nov 07, 2008 14:07     

There is no global warming (at least none that isn't perfectly natural and cyclical) and in another few years, they'll be back to global cooling. It takes the alarmists about 30 years to cycle back around, but this has been going on for quite some time now and we're all still here, the polar ice caps haven't melted away and Bush didn't destroy the environment. =)
eclypse report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1

Fuel burning doesn't = global warming

Nov 07, 2008 18:24     

Even if carbon emissions do cause global warming (which they probably don't), there is no reason to fear biofuels. There is a very simple reason for this: conservation of mass. You see, if a plant or fungus makes hydrocarbons it had to get the carbon from somewhere. In plants at least, this usually means that they pull CO2 out of the air and convert it into a much bigger molecule, like C8H18 (octane). This effectively leads to stable amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as every gallon of fuel created had to pull a gallon worth of carbon out of the air.

Dr. Nate report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

@ Eclypse

Nov 07, 2008 21:20     

Did u really undersatand the term called Global Warming?? its de effective working of hydrocarbons together will the greenhouse gaeses.. released throught out hte world... and of the most important particle is CFC - which is even released by your perfume... and it causes a chemical reaction with the O3 layer.. thats the ozonosphere.. of the atmosphere, the third layer in the earth's blanket to safe guard from UV rays and other violent cosmis rays jus like SPAM filters... But other than tht.. Fuel burning.. OMG.. Go for Bio diesels...

thej report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -2