Posted on 07/09/2024 8:12:43 AM PDT by Red Badger
Representation of engineered squalene pathways employed for poplar transformations. The enzymes required for biosynthesis of squalene, FDPS and SQS, were re-targeted to plastids (right) or used in combination with lipid droplet co-production or scaffolding through fusions with LDSP (left). These pathways utilize IDP/DMADP building blocks made available in plastids from the MEP pathway or in the cytosol from the MVA pathway. Variations of both strategies were attempted when engineering poplar. Credit: Plant Biotechnology Journal (2024). DOI: 10.1111/pbi.14345 What do poplar trees, sharks and biofuels have in common? While it might sound a bit like a riddle, a team led by Michigan State University biochemists has reported exciting findings concerning all three in the quest for cleaner energy.
Published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, the team's latest paper explores how poplar trees can be engineered to produce a highly valuable chemical that's commonly obtained from shark livers.
Engineering poplars to produce this chemical would greatly boost their economic viability as an already-promising source of biofuels, as well as help cut back on destructive shark harvesting.
"I think this project really highlights how we can use industrial crops in new ways," said Jake Bibik, first author on the paper and a former doctoral student in the lab of Michigan State researcher Björn Hamberger.
"Using engineered, nonfood crops like poplar may provide a more sustainable alternative for generating chemicals typically derived from fossil fuels, or even new specialty chemicals altogether."
More bang for your buck On their own, poplars check several boxes needed to be a successful biofuel feedstock.
They grow quickly on land not used for agriculture, and their biomass—the organic material where energy is stored—can be deconstructed and fermented for biofuel production.
One of the biggest challenges comes down to simple economics. "Biofuels are still not competitive against the cheap petrochemistry that's out there," said Hamberger, a James K. Billman Endowed Professor in the College of Natural Science's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Hamberger is also a co-investigator at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), a bioenergy research facility led by the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
GLBRC scientists have long sought ways to extract other high-value products from biomass. Research has shown that poplar can be a viable source of p-aminophenol, which is used to make dyes, adhesives and other polymers, as well as paracetamol, the active ingredient in Tylenol.
Michigan State University’s Björn Hamberger is an expert in specialized metabolites known as terpenes. These compounds have long been used by humanity for their medicinal, cosmetic, and flavoring properties. Credit: Michigan State University When Hamberger joined the center in 2015, he suggested going after terpenes, a group of chemical compounds plants use in unique environmental interactions such as attracting pollinators or defending against pests.
"Terpenes are the oldest, largest class of specialized metabolites on the planet," said Hamberger, who is also a faculty member in MSU's Molecular Plant Sciences, Genetics and Genome Sciences and Cell and Molecular Biology programs.
"Since they're important for all sorts of interactions, it's driven their diversity to a spectacular point where the chemistry out there is just mind-blowing."
Used by humans for millennia, terpenes have been shown to possess anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer and antibacterial properties and are key components in flavorings, cosmetics and perfumes just to name a few applications.
Bibik, Hamberger and their collaborators were targeting a terpene called squalene, an organic compound widely used in cosmetic products and a crucial component in vaccines.
Today, most squalene comes from shark liver—in fact, the name of the chemical even originates from the Latin word for shark, squalus.
During the project, the team engineered poplars to produce squalene along two distinct chemical pathways.
One pathway utilized the gel-like substance known as cytosol found in the center of cells, while another sought to produce squalene in chloroplasts, the organelles responsible for photosynthesis.
"By diverting carbon away from regular metabolism to make specialized chemicals in unique poplar tissues and droplets, Hamberger and his team are employing a highly innovative strategy to turn trees into biological factories," said Professor Shawn Mansfield of the University of British Columbia, an expert on poplar transformation and a collaborator on the latest paper.
"It's exciting to be part of this highly novel and forward-thinking project."
While the cytosol pathway was discovered to interfere with poplar root formation, the chloroplast route resulted in the production of 0.63 milligrams per gram of squalene in leaves.
With this promising result, it was time for what Hamberger called a "reality check."
Looking to upgrade Working with Christos Maravelias, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Princeton University, the team next performed an analysis to determine the minimum sales price their poplar-produced squalene would need to be sold at to break even.
The researchers found that number to be $144 per kilogram. Shark-derived squalene comes in at $40 per kilogram.
"If you want to sell a green product to a customer, it can't only be green, it needs to be affordable," Hamberger said.
"Luckily, there are several ways to boost the value. One way is increasing overall production, and the other brings us to the cool world of perfumes and another marine animal product—ambergris."
Produced in the digestive system of sperm whales, ambergris is used in perfumes to prolong scents.
Hamberger said it should be possible to "upgrade" squalene to ambrein, another high-value terpene that makes up ambergris. Scientists have already demonstrated that bacteria can be engineered to produce ambrein, paving the way for further investigation into how poplars could do the same.
Furthermore, another MSU collaborator on the paper, Tom Sharkey, showed that poplars engineered to produce squalene emit less isoprene gas that indirectly contributes to the greenhouse effect.
"Jake, Björn and their colleagues are working on a method with perhaps the greatest promise to make specialty chemicals and fuel for when only liquid fuel will do, such as jet airplane travel," said Sharkey, a University Distinguished Professor in BMB. Sharkey is also affiliated with the MSU-Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory and the Plant Resilience Institute.
With these collective findings, the researchers have broken new ground in the quest to transform poplars into an even more attractive source of biofuels and valuable compounds.
For Bibik, who's now a senior scientist at the biotechnology company MelaTech, the team's findings are ultimately another step toward leveraging our planet's biochemical diversity to address some of its greatest challenges.
"I think this work contributes to a growing foundation that's necessary to be able to translate plant engineering and terpenoid research into meaningful biotechnologies."
More information: Jacob D. Bibik et al, Engineered poplar for bioproduction of the triterpene squalene, Plant Biotechnology Journal (2024). DOI: 10.1111/pbi.14345
Journal information: Plant Biotechnology Journal
Provided by Michigan State University
“Researchers engineer poplar trees to synthesize valuable chemical squalene, normally harvested from shark livers”
great, now “scientists” have created gain-of-function trees that grow land sharks ...
OTOH, squalene adjutants used in vaccines will be much cheaper ... all the better to artificially hyperactivate ones immune system ...
What could possibly go wrong?
It used to be that Preparation H was made with shark liver oil and it actually worked... now not so much.
Wasn’t that at one time supposed to be a depop jab adjuvant?
We need some screen writers from the 50’s science fiction movies.
“What could possibly go wrong?”
You could have to move out of your parents’ basement?
May PETA be infested with hemorrhoids..................
Who had that headline on their FR posting bingo card?
May PETA be infested with hemorrhoids..................
Actually, now they may be called shemorroids depending
on how they happen to feel at the time.
Ha... says the guy who’s still living in his moms basement. You should get out more often... say to... Twin Peaks. Ha... Ha...
What kind of poplar? How many years to grow the tree? What’s the greater value...squalene or timber?
I never found Prep H to be effective. Felt too much like getting bitten in the @$$ by a shark.
Anusol was much more effective in the end.
Squalene is used in the cosmetics and
pharmaceutical industries....................
In a related story, marine biologists are studying a spate of reports of orcas mysteriously seen to attack trees—poplar trees in particular.
Or sailboats made of poplar?...................
Anusol was much more effective in the end.
I thought about marketing a product...
I was going to call it Inuendo...
“What kind of poplar? How many years to grow the tree? What’s the greater value...squalene or timber?”
What’s the greater value...squalene+biomass or timber?”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.