Modified plants may yield more biofuel
Plants, genetically modified to ease the breaking down of their woody material, could be the key to a cheaper and greener way of making ethanol, according to researchers who add that the approach could also help turn agricultural waste into food for livestock. view more (2008-12-23)
Billion-year revision of plant evolution timeline may stem from discovery of lignin in seaweed
Land plants' ability to sprout upward through the air, unsupported except by their own woody tissues, has long been considered one of the characteristics separating them from aquatic plants, which rely on water to support them. view more (2009-01-27)
When Plants Think Alike
Biologists have discovered that a fundamental building block in the cells of flowering plants evolved independently, yet almost identically, on a separate branch of the evolutionary tree--in an ancient plant group called lycophytes that originated at least 420 million years ago. view more (2008-05-28)
Advances in the characterisation of the oyster mushroom genes
The oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), apart from reducing cholesterol and having anticancerogenic properties, is characterised for its capacity for breaking down cellulose. Finding out which genes are responsible for this activity - the reason why the fungus is sometimes used as a decontaminating agent, was the aim of the PhD thesis by... view more... (2005-03-15)
Novel fungus helps beetles to digest hard wood
A little known fungus tucked away in the gut of Asian longhorned beetles helps the insect munch through the hardest of woods according to a team of entomologists and biochemists. Researchers say the discovery could lead to innovative methods of controlling the invasive pest, and potentially offer more efficient ways of breaking down plant biomass... view more... (2008-08-19)
Queen's scientists discover eco-friendly wood dissolution
Scientists at Queen's University Belfast have discovered a new eco-friendly way of dissolving wood using ionic liquids that may help its transformation into popular products such as bio fuels, textiles, clothes and paper. view more (2009-05-21)
Two-step chemical process turns raw biomass into biofuel
Taking a chemical approach, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a two-step method to convert the cellulose in raw biomass into a promising biofuel. view more (2009-02-11)
New screening method to help find better biofuel crops
In the face of skyrocketing gasoline prices, ethanol has become a hot commodity along with the corn used to make it. Researchers at the US DOE's Ames Laboratory have developed a method to screen other more cost effective and sustainable crops to produce ethanol. view more (2007-06-06)
Turning unwanted straw into valuable products for industry
Common or garden straw could be a rich source of raw materials for a range of industries, from the health foods and cosmetics sectors to packaging and fabrics. Researchers at the University of Wales, Bangor are developing environmentally friendly ways of processing wheat and other cereal straws to extract valuable products for industry. The work... view more... (2002-01-24)
Fuels from Biomass: New Technique Can Fast-Track Better Ionic Liquids for Biomass Pre-Treatments
Understanding how ionic liquids dissolve lignocellulose will help scientists find new and better ways of producing advanced fuels from biomass
They've been dubbed "grassoline" - second generation biofuels made from inedible plant material, including fast-growing weeds, agricultural waste, sawdust, etc. - and numerous scientific... view more... (2009-07-13)
Rot's unique wood degrading machinery to be harnessed for better biofuels production
An international team led by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) have translated the genetic code that explains the complex biochemical machinery making brown-rot fungi uniquely destructive to wood. view more (2009-02-06)
Two bacteria better than one in cellulose-fed fuel cell
No currently known bacteria that allow termites and cows to digest cellulose, can power a microbial fuel cell and those bacteria that can produce electrical current cannot eat cellulose. view more (2007-07-30)
Sequencing of the oyster mushroom genome
Professor of Microbiology at the Public University of Navarre, Antonio Gerardo Pisabarro de Lucas, is leading an international project to sequence the genome of the oyster mushroom. view more (2006-10-05)
Carbon fiber cars could put U.S. on highway to efficiency
Highways of tomorrow might be filled with lighter, cleaner and more fuel-efficient automobiles made in part from recycled plastics, lignin from wood pulp and cellulose. view more (2006-03-07)
Popping the cork on biofuel agriculture
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified a novel enzyme responsible for the formation of suberin - the woody, waxy, cell-wall substance found in cork. view more (2009-10-20)
Lighting up paper
Researchers have developed a sophisticated way of measuring the print quality of paper. The work, published today in the Institute of Physics journal, Measurement Science and Technology, describes how Jari Palviainen and colleagues at the Universities of Joensuu and Oulu in Finland, use what is known as a diffractive optical element-based sensor... view more... (2002-02-27)
Decoding mushroom's secrets could combat carbon, find better biofuels & safer soils
Researchers at the University of Warwick are co-ordinating a global effort to sequence the genome of one of the World's most important mushrooms - Agaricus bisporus. view more (2007-07-18)
HOW TREES CHANGED THE WORLD
Before 380 million years (Ma) ago, the continents had only patches of mosses and algae with no tree cover. The effect of the evolution of trees (large vascular plants with deep, extensive roots) changed the world for ever, according to Dr Robert Berner (Yale University). He presents his findings at Earth Systems Processes, a multidisciplinary... view more... (2001-06-21)
Previously unknown bacterium belonging to a new genus found in a termite intestine
Out of 2300 species of termite recorded in the world, only a small number can be considered as devastators of wood. These insects are in reality highly diversified in their feeding and nutritional regimes, which allows them to assimilate plant material in various forms: whereas some species derive nutrition from dry wood (the xylophages) or plant... view more... (1999-03-02)
Cornell researchers identify natural herbicide that controls weeds around some common lawn grasses
Certain varieties of common fescue lawn grass come equipped with their own natural broad-spectrum herbicide that inhibits the growth of weeds and other plants around them. view more (2007-11-09)
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