Shiitake mushrooms may be used to produce fuel, with promising prospects

People are all too familiar with the shiitake mushroom as a delicious food, but a latest study in the United States may give this edible fungus a new mission -- one day in the future, shiitake mushrooms may gradually leave people's dining tables and kitchens and find their way into people's car fuel tanks.

According to reports, the shiitake mushroom, this delicious fungus, usually grows on felled trees in forests. It breaks down the complex organic matter in wood into sugars and uses them as nutrients to sustain its own growth. At present, the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture and some scientists are working to study whether this characteristic of the shiitake mushroom can be used to contribute to fuel production.

Researchers have already discovered and copied the Xyn11A gene of the shiitake mushroom. It is the Xyn11A gene that gives the shiitake mushroom the ability to produce xylanase, and xylanase can break down the complex organic matter in wood (such as lignin, cellulose, etc.) into glucose and amino acids. After the researchers isolated this gene, they began to study whether it could be used to produce large amounts of xylanase, and these enzymes would be used to break down rice husks or the residues of other agricultural products into sugars, while the sugars produced by the breakdown could be used to make ethanol or other types of fuel.

At present, scientists are conducting experiments to transfer this gene into yeast. Moreover, they have already produced xylanase in yeast. Next, they will improve this gene so that the yeast can produce more xylanase in a shorter time.