Keith, I saw your previous posting on this subject and have sent the below inserted email to Professor Danna. I have not yet received a reply to may fist message to her. Maybe I'll have better luck this time.
Hanns Sent: Thursday, 31 May 2001 7:06 PM To: Kathleen Danna Subject: Cellulase Enzymes Dear Professor Danna, Previously I sent the following email to [EMAIL PROTECTED], which I got from the on line staff list at CU Boulder:- "The following appeared in article about your research on the Environment News Science web site:- http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-24-09.html QUOTE Associate professor Kathleen Danna of the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department and her research team created a new technique they expect to produce low cost enzymes vital for the conversion of plant cellulose into ethanol. Producing large quantities of the enzymes could slash costs for the processing of renewable fuels from plant biomass, said Danna. UNQUOTE I am interested in starting a project in Papua New Guinea to produce ethanol from waste generated during the logging and saw milling process as well as from other plant wastes such as that from the production of palm oil and copra. Are you able to give me any indication regarding the commercial availability of the enzymes or of the licensing for their production." Today I saw another article, more detailed, in the UC News dated 23 May 2001. I am neither an academic nor a chemist, but have close contacts with the people and government of Papua New Guinea and am very interested in kicking off an ethanol project there as I mentioned above. Unfortunately there is still much logging going on there but also saw milling and large scale palm oil production. My interest focuses on he waste products of these industries. That is why I sent you the previous email on 26 May 2001, which because of the different address may not have reached you. On the other hand, the questions I asked there might have been far to early. I do not know about the mustard weed, but tobacco and corn grow well in PNG. Once genetically modified, can these plants reproduce in that state, or do they have to be cloned? Any opinions you may have for the possibility of your process being used in PNG would be greatly appreciated. You may know that PNG is a fossil oil exporter, but the wells are relatively small and already in decline. The country does not have any crude oil processing infrastructure and all refined products are imported. PNG also has a large current account deficit and this form of import substitution would benefit its economy as well as create jobs. -----Original Message----- From: Keith Addison [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, 31 May 2001 1:55 AM To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Subject: [biofuel] Mustard Plants Produce Low-Cost Enzymes for Making Ethanol Mustard Plants Produce Low-Cost Enzymes for Making Ethanol Researchers at the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder announced last week the development of a potentially low- cost method of producing the cellulase enzyme. Cellulase is a crucial component in the conversion of woody biomass materials, like grasses and trees, into ethanol. The CU- Boulder researchers transplanted a bacterial gene that codes for the production of cellulase into a tiny weed species in the mustard family known as Arabidopsis thallana. Raised under controlled conditions, the plants manufactured significant quantities of cellulase, which could then be harvested from the plants. The researchers believe that other plants, such as tobacco or corn, could also be used to produce the enzyme. See the CU-Boulder press release at: <http://www.colorado.edu/PublicRelations/NewsReleases/2001/1244.html> http://www.colorado.edu/PublicRelations/NewsReleases/2001/1244.html Public Relations Press Release Contact: Kathleen Danna, (303) 492-8735 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anson Kendall, (303) 492-6692 Jim Scott, (303) 492-3114 May 23, 2001 NEW CU-BOULDER RESEARCH MAY REDUCE RENEWABLE FUELS COSTS Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have developed a novel process involving the production of ethanol that could lead to a significant decrease in the cost of renewable fuel. Associate Professor Kathleen Danna of the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department and her research team created a new technique they expect to produce large amounts of low-cost, highly effective enzymes vital for the conversion of plant cellulose into ethanol. Successfully producing large quantities of the enzymes could significantly lower costs for the processing of renewable fuels from plant biomass, said Danna. "By promoting the development of renewable fuels, our work should have significant economic and environmental impact," she said. "An established biofuels industry will strengthen U.S. agriculture and reduce our country's dependence on foreign oil." Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, is a clean-burning fuel that is used as a gasoline additive in some states like Colorado during the high-pollution months in winter, said Danna. In Brazil, ethanol has been used on an experimental basis to run fleets of cars with specially modified engines using fuel made up of 95 percent ethanol. Although the ethanol currently used as a fuel additive in America is derived from cornstarch rather than cellulose via biomass conversion, cornstarch as a source of raw material would not be able to meet the demand if ethanol were to become a major transportation fuel, she said. While there is a competing use for cornstarch -- food -- the supply of plant biomass is so large it often has a "negative cost" in that households, industry and government often must pay for its disposal, Danna said. Cellulose is the principal structural material in the cell walls of all land plants. Cellulose -- essentially, repeating chains of glucose -- needs to be broken down into smaller segments in order to produce ethanol. A class of enzymes known as cellulase, which are found in some species of fungi and bacteria, break chemical bonds between glucose sub-units that make up cellulose. Fermentation of the glucose completes the conversion of cellulose to ethanol, Danna said. Because the organisms that synthesize such enzymes are difficult to grow in large quantities needed for industrial application, the researchers have taken genes from certain bacteria harboring the enzymes and injected them into plants. The plants then express the genes as the cellulase enzymes in large quantities within the cell walls of plants, she said. One bacterium that has been used by the CU-Boulder researchers, and which contains genes that code for cellulase enzymes, was originally discovered in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., said Danna. Most recently, the researchers have transplanted a bacterial gene that codes for cellulase into a tiny weed species in the mustard family known as Arabidopsis thallana. Raised in closed chambers set at temperatures of roughly 77 degrees Fahrenheit for optimal growth, the plants manufacture significantly large quantities of the cellulase enzyme, which then is harvested from the plants. A number of plants might be viable candidates to produce large amounts of cellulase enzymes in their leaves and stems, said Danna, including tobacco and corn. "The increased use of biofuels at the expense of petroleum will reduce air pollution, particularly particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone and nitrous oxide and will slow the accumulation of greenhouse gases," Danna said. The effort led by Danna has earned the project recognition from the Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research Inc., which recently awarded the CU-Boulder team a $40,000 fellowship that will help fund research by Danna and biology Research Associate Sylvia Fromherz. The money will fund a project aimed at developing a superior cellulase enzyme and is receiving matching funds from industry and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education grants program to CU-Boulder. Based on St. Simons Island, Ga., CBPR is an international consortium that applies university biotechnology research to industrial and societal needs for the development of new and improved products and processes. Since 1989, CBPR has funded more than 240 research projects with more than $30 million in federal funds that were matched by nearly $40 million in non-federal funds. -30- Office of News Services 3100 Marine Street, 5th Floor 584 UCB Boulder, Colorado 80309-0584 (303) 492-6431 Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
