Colorized environmental scanning electron microscope photo of Gliocladium roseum, an endophtic fungus that produces myco-diesel hydrocarbons. (Photo courtesy of Gary Strobel.)
In a Patagonian rainforest, plant pathologist Gary Strobel has discovered a previously unknown species of fungus that excretes gases including at least eight hydrocarbons that are the most abundant ingredients in diesel fuel.
"This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances," said Strobel, a professor at Montana State University. "The fungus can even make these diesel compounds from cellulose, which would make it a better source of biofuel than anything we use at the moment."
Unlike other biofuels which must be broken down into less complex sugars for biological processing, Gliocladium roseumcan makes its hydrocarbons directly from cellulose, the fibrous material found in wheat, switch grass, corn stalks, rice straw, and even wood chips.
"This means that if the fungus was used to make fuel, a step in the production process could be skipped," says Strobel who suggests that G. roseum could be grown in factories, like baker's yeast, instead of on valuable farmland.
Diesel is normally obtained from crude oil. The startling discovery of G. roseum calls into question the accepted theory that oil is formed from the remains of dead plants and animals that have been exposed to heat and pressure for millions of years. "If fungi like this are producing myco-diesel all over the rainforest, they may have contributed to the formation of fossil fuels," says Strobel.