A tiny bug could help solve one of the world’s biggest problems.
UF researchers have found two enzymes in termite saliva that help break down wood into sugars that the bioenergy industry can use to produce fuel for cars.
The paper was published on the Internet in “Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology” in August.
“Ten years ago, when I saw the first genes, I knew this was the way to go,” said Mike Scharf, UF associate professor of entomology and the leader of the research.
Scharf said the enzymes in the termites’ saliva break apart lignin, a tough part of wood’s composition that is usually very expensive to eliminate.
Scharf is proposing using the enzymes instead of strong acids and bases or the intense, costly heat of 100 degrees Celsius to break down the lignin.
The enzymes can do the same job at room temperature, although they work best at body temperature.
Termites change wood into something their bodies can use: sugar.
“The analogy we use is a termite candy bar,” Scharf said while holding up a block of pine wood. “It’s no different than a human candy bar in terms of sugar content.”
He said that sugar could then be sent to a bioenergy plant where it would be fermented to make the alcoholic fuel known as ethanol.
James Preston, a UF microbiology professor who studies bacterial enzymes and how they can be used to break down plants into alternative fuels, said the greatest barrier to ethanol production is removing the lignin, but these enzymes could make the process cheaper by reducing the time and energy needed to do the job.
“After all, what are enzymes? They’re catalysts,” Preston said. “They make things go fast.”
