Yesterday we wrote about the energy that termites harvest from plants using a combination of the fungus they farm(!) and the microbes in their bellies. To inspire the creation of biofuels, scientists have looked at the gut bacteria in these termites as well as cows to better understand how these animals break down plant materials. The enzymes in the bacteria are able, in varying degrees of success, to convert the cellulose in plants to sugar. The same sugars can be fed to yeast to generate ethanol and other liquid fuels.
This week, researchers from the University of Illinois, publishing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, determined that humans can contribute their gut bacteria to biofuel production as well. In fact, the human microbes Bacteroides intestinalis and Bacteroides ovatus appear to be endowed with enzymes that break down a complex plant fiber component more efficiently than the most efficient microbes found in the cow rumen, the researchers report.
“In addition to finding microbes in the cow rumen and termite gut, it looks like we can actually make some contributions ourselves,” says author Isaac Cann. “And our bugs seem to have some enzymes that are even better than those in the cow rumen.” Who knew?