Fungal map of mutations

September 02, 2009

• Anne Haas, PNNL, (509) 375-3732

RICHLAND, Wash. – During World War II, T. reesei frustrated American Army quartermasters in the South Pacific by speeding up the rate at which canvas supplies wore out. Today, scientists are learning how the same fungus is a key producer of industrial enzymes that are used, among other applications, to break down biomass for better biofuel production.

PNNL’s Dr. Scott Baker is part of an international team of scientists with the DOE’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI), the French applied research center IFP, and the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) providing the first genome-wide look at what these mutations are in order to understand just how cellulase production was first improved using T. reesei, and how the process can be further improved.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory where interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable problems in energy, national security and the environment. PNNL employs 4,650 staff, has a $918 million annual budget, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. Follow PNNL on Facebook, Linked In and Twitter.