The genome of the fuel-producing green microalga Botryococcus braunii has been sequenced by a team of researchers led by a group at Texas A&M AgriLife Research.
The report…comes after almost seven years of research, according to Dr. Tim Devarenne, AgriLife Research biochemist…In addition to sequencing the genome, other genetic facts emerged that ultimately could help his team and others studying this green microalga further research toward producing algae and plants as a renewable fuel source.
“This alga is colony-forming, which means that a lot of individual cells grow to form a colony. These cells make lots of hydrocarbons…And these hydrocarbons can be converted into fuels – gasoline, kerosene and diesel, for example, the same way that one converts petroleum into these fuels,” Devarenne said.
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Devarenne said his lab wants to understand not so much how to make fuel, but rather how the alga makes these hydrocarbons, what genes and enzymes are involved and how they function.
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“Once we understand that, maybe we can manipulate the alga to make more oil or specific types of oil or maybe we can transfer those genes into other photosynthetic organisms to have them make the oil instead of the alga,” said Devarenne
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