Work by two Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers may be used to help developing improved technologies for efficient, low cost production of bioethanol from plant biomass. The researchers, Prof. Amir Sharon and Dr. Sima Barhoom, both from the Plant Sciences Department at TAU, have developed transgenic fungi that have the potential to effectively unlock the glucose molecules in cellulose.

The fungi’s unique properties were discovered accidentally, explains Prof. Sharon, who is also working in the area of biological control. “We were exploring ways to modify the germination of the fungus using anti-death genes. Disappointed with our results, we continued research in another direction. About a year later when we went to clean out the cold room, we were astonished to discover a bright fungal colony that should have died months before.” 

What the researchers chanced upon was later tested in the lab and found to be true: a gene was discovered that made cells more resistant to death. “With this gene, the fungus can live much longer, even in environments that would normally kill it very quickly,” says Prof. Sharon.

Thanks to the high tolerance and longer life span, Sharon adds, the modified fungus can be used for much longer periods of time and under harsh conditions. It is highly adjusted to the harsh conditions that develop during conversion of plant cellulose into bioethanol.

Besides its potential to effectively break down cellulose, these transgenic fungi have other desirable properties as well: they are extremely heat tolerant, are better resistant to toxins and live up to 10 times longer than the fungal colonies used in fermentation processes today.

This means huge cost savings for a number of multi-billion industries that rely on fungi and fermentation to produce raw materials.

In the food industry, the technology can be applied in the production of citric acid - the key ingredient in beverages such as cola, soy sauce and many other materials that are produced through fungal fermentation.

Prof. Sharon will present this research as an invited lecturer at the annual meeting of the American Fungal Genetics Society in Asilomar, California this week.  Ramot, TAU’s technology transfer company,  is currently negotiating license agreements on the technology and is actively seeking partnerships with various industries.