Ants may provide cellulosic solution

Ethanol Producer Magazine November 2009
By Craig A. Johnson
Report posted on Nov. 5, 2009, at 4:25 p.m. CST

At the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center in Madison, Wis., researchers are looking to leafcutter ants for new enzymatic processes that will further progress efforts to commercialize cellulosic ethanol. Leafcutter ants, which are found in tropical climates and live in enormous colonies that can number in the millions, have evolved several features over time that make their particular cocktail of enzymes attractive to researchers.

“Our lab is an evolution and ecology lab, and we’re very interested in natural systems that take advantage of lignocellulolytic biomass and use microbes to break down [cellulosic] feedstocks,” said Garret Suen, a post doctoral research fellow at the GLBRC. “If we go to a system that is specialized to produce exactly what it is we’re looking for, we may find something of use.”

Converting plant cell walls into simple sugars, the basic premise for cellulosic ethanol, is a major challenge for scientists. Leafcutter ants, which tend massive fungal gardens of their decaying byproducts, may present a worthwhile solution.

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