Abstract
The world has a continuing demand and utility for liquid fuels to power its societies. The utilization of crude oil based fuels is leading to a dramatic increase in the CO2 content of the atmosphere which is being related to a dangerously warming earth. Having liquid fuels that are derived from biological sources is one solution to this growing problem since the carbon being utilized is only from recycled sources. Presently, the microbes, having the greatest impact on the world’s economies, producing liquid fuel are various yeasts producing ethanol. Other microbial sources need to be sought since ethanol is not the most desirable fuel and yeasts require simple sugars to carry out the fermentation processes. Recently, several endophytic fungi have been described that make hydrocarbons with fuel potential (Mycodiesel). Among others the compounds found in the volatile phases of these cultures include alkanes, branched alkanes, cyclohexanes, cyclopentanes, and alkyl alcohols/ketones, benzenes and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Most importantly, generally these organisms make hydrocarbons while utilizing complex carbohydrates found in all plant-based agricultural wastes. Also discussed in this review is a rationale for finding hydrocarbon producing endophytes as well as examples of other promising hydrocarbon producers-Nodulisporium spp. which make 1,8-cineole and families of other hydrocarbons. Extremely favorable results of engine and fuel testing experiments recently completed on cineole and other products of Nodulisporium sp. are also presented. Finally, there is a brief discussion on the main limiting steps in the domestication of these fungi
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Acknowledgments
The author wishes to acknowledge the financial support of the NSF via a grant to Dr. Brent Peyton of the MSU Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the DoE to Dr. Gary Strobel. Technical and financial support were also provided from Endophytics LLC of 920 Technology Blvd. Suite 201, Bozeman, MT.
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For purposes of this review all chemical names used follow the nomenclature of the NIST data base from which the data were originally obtained.
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Strobel, G.A. Bioprospecting—fuels from fungi. Biotechnol Lett 37, 973–982 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-015-1773-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-015-1773-9