National Science Foundation Funds University of Missouri Research on Carbohydrate Movement in Corn

Grainnet.com
Date Posted: March 16, 2011

Columbia, MO—Plants harvest energy through the process of photosynthesis, using sunlight to produce sugars.

However, little is known about the genes that regulate the transport of sugars to build different parts of the plant.

Now, a University of Missouri researcher has received a $6.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to lead a research team to study the genes that control the movement of carbohydrates in corn.

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Carbohydrate-to-lipid project wins award

Biodiesel Magazine
November 2010
By Erin Voegele
Posted Nov. 1, 2010

A research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has won a $50,000 ConocoPhillips Energy Prize to support the development of a carbohydrate-to-biodiesel process. The technology, which is designed to significantly increase yields, may also provide a pathway for the direct conversion of hydrogen and carbon dioxide into biofuels.

According to Gregory Stephanopoulos, an MIT processor of chemical engineering who is leading the project, the technology utilizes an engineered microbe to convert carbohydrate feedstocks into lipids. While Stephanopoulos noted that he is unable to disclose specific details of the process due to its proprietary nature, he said that the patent-pending technology can be applied to a wide portfolio of carbohydrate feedstocks, including sugars, glucose, glycerin, hydrolysates from biomass and algae.

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Woodstock vs Feedstock: “psychedelic” corn promises higher biofuels, food yields

Biofuels Digest
June 09, 2010 Jim Lane

In Pennsylvania, researchers have identified new corn genes that increase the export of carbohydrates from corn leaves and could result in higher yields for biofuels. The two genes that were isolated are controlling the movement of carbon from leaves to other parts of the plant, and thereby control carbohydrate creation.

The researchers, working under a USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, believe that manipulation of the metabolic pathway will give options for increased food or fuel from the plant.

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Converting carbs to lactic acid with catalysts

Biomass Magazine
May 2010
By Lisa Gibson
Posted May 19, 2010, at 3:29 p.m. CST

A team of researchers from Haldor Topsøe A/S, a Danish catalyst research and development company, and the Technical University of Denmark’s Department of Chemistry have developed a process to convert carbohydrates from biomass into lactic acid using only catalysis.

Traditionally, fermentation is used in the conversion process, but the researchers modified the acidity of a zeolite material catalyst, which is made of silicone oxide and aluminum oxide, to carry out their process, according to Esben Taarning, researcher with Haldor Topsøe. “It is the aluminum oxide that makes the zeolites acidic and by changing the composition of the zeolite to one that is composed of silicon oxide and e.g. tin oxide (no aluminum oxide), the acidic properties change as well,” he said. “In fact, the acidic properties change so dramatically that the modified zeolites are able to catalyze the conversion of carbohydrates to lactic acid derivatives. In comparison, a conventional zeolite is too acidic to afford any useful products at a high selectivity and primarily catalyze dehydration reactions.” Lactic acid products can be used in manufacturing biodegradable plastics and solvents.

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Carbohydrate Research Center receives $3 million grant

redandblack.com (University of Georgia)
MARIANNE ENGLISH
Issue date: 3/31/09 Section: News

DARVILLThe University's Complex Carbohydrate Research Center was granted $3.1 million to continue research on complex carbohydrates of plants and various microbes that interact with plants, thanks to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The center also received $20 million of a $135 million BioEnergy Science Center grant in 2007 to study biofuel technology.

"Most plants you see when you look outside are composed of sugars, or complex carbohydrates," said Alan Darvill, plant biology director of the center. "We are trying to develop methods to break down this plant material into sugars that can be fermented into biofuel."

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DOE awards UGA $3.1 million to support complex carbohydrate study nationwide

EurekaAlert
Public release date: 17-Mar-2009

Athens, Ga. – The Department of Energy has awarded the University of Georgia Complex Carbohydrate Research Center a four-year, $3.1 million grant to continue as a national resource for researchers who study the complex carbohydrates of plants and of microbes that interact with plants. The grant for the DOE Center for Plant and Microbial Complex Carbohydrates, the only center of its kind in the U.S., has been renewed six times since it was originally awarded in 1986.

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