Microbes for Biofuels

This Scientificblogging news story recounts the work of Arizona State University researchers' efforts to engineer cyanobacteria to excrete fatty acids through their cell walls — a key step to developing the microbes as a source of biofuel. First, the researchers inserted thioesterase to remove the fatty acids from their carriers and then they altered S and peptidoglycan layers of the cell wall to better allow secretion. "The results to date are encouraging and we are confident of making further improvements to achieve enhanced productivity in strains currently under construction and development," Roy Curtiss says. "In addition, optimizing growth conditions associated with scale-up will also improve productivity."