Research Highlights

Great Lakes Bioenergy researchers and collaborators engineered softwoods to incorporate a key feature of hardwoods. The resulting pine (shown here) processes more easily into pulp and paper.
Great Lakes Bioenergy research consistently results in new discoveries and new technologies. Here, we highlight high-impact research from all three of our research areas.
Combining methods increases confidence when estimating climate impact of bioenergy crops
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) may be necessary to limit the rise in global temperatures but requires vast amounts of land, and the change in land use could have positive or negative impacts on the climate. This work examines three methods for estimating the impacts and shows how some scenarios can reduce warming.
Computational modeling provides insight into ion-mediated molecular aggregation
Lignin, one of three main parts of plant cell walls, is a potential source of renewable chemicals such as PDC (2-Pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid), which can be used to make bioplastics. Crystallization is a common method for separating PDC from fermentation broths, but scientists don't fully understand the interplay of interactions that drive this aggregation and structure formation and how they depend on the charge of PDC and ionic species present.
Bayesian experimental design identifies green solvents for bioproduct separation
Scientists with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center developed a Bayesian experimental design (BED) framework to guide solvent selection by predicting product partition coefficients as thermodynamic parameters. The iterative approach combines Bayesian optimization with empirical measurements and leverages conductor-like screening model for realistic solvents (COSMO-RS) calculations to guide high-throughput experimentation capabilities.
Advanced microscopy offers clues to bacterial storage organelle function
Bacteria lack membrane-bound organelles found in eukaryotic cells, but protein-coated compartments and other structures enable efficient coordination of cellular functions by segregating reactions or protecting fragile intermediates. Here, scientists investigated the the accumulation of carbon and inorganic phosphates in two such organelles, polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and polyphosphate (PP), in Rhodobacter sphaeroides.
NEEDLE points to key gene regulators
Scientists with the Great lakes Bioenergy Research Center designed NEEDLE, a user-friendly platform to delineate regulatory interactions within plants, and tested it on both known and unknown questions in order to determine its accuracy and usefulness in identifying transcription factors of target genes.
Synthesized biorefinery highlights potential cost savings for cellulosic biorefinery
Researchers demonstrated high-yield IBA production from poplar, sorghum, and switchgrass pretreated with a γ-valerolactone (GVL)-based process. They developed a biorefinery where bioenergy crops are pretreated and hydrolysed, and IBA is removed with vacuum flash to avoid toxic IBA concentrations. Using a process optimization model, they performed technoeconomic and sensitivity analyses to estimate production costs and identify potential improvements.
Study advances understanding of nodal root bud development in energy sorghum
Researchers used microscopy, transcriptome analysis, and gene regulatory network analysis to study nodal root bud initiation and development in bioenergy sorghum hybrids grown at the Texas A&M University Farm. A system of about 175 nodal roots that extend more than 2 meters enable sorghum to absorb water and nutrients while storing carbon in the soil, contributing to the plant's resilience and sustainability as a source of bioenergy.
Overlooked Cooling Effects of Albedo
The trapping of heat energy is a significant driver of global climate change. The absorbent nature of materials, such as asphalt, used for infrastructure can lead to an increase in temperature. When determining the value of various crop systems on our shared future, albedo is an often overlooked aspect of the calculation that may seriously impact climate patterns on this planet. The paper shows that ecosystem types, as well as time of day and season, heavily impact the reflectivity of ground cover types, suggesting that new techniques need to be developed if albedo is to be properly considered in carbon credit programs and future policies.
Researchers develop genetic toolkit for engineering Alphaproteobacteria
Researchers developed facile and reliable genetic tools to target essential or other specific genes in the Alphaproteobacteria Novosphingobium aromaticivorans and Rhodobacter sphaeroides, which show promise as organisms that can be engineered to convert plant lignin and sugars into biofuels and commodity chemicals.
Oxygen-permeable membrane reactor offers scalable approach to lignin depolymerization
Lignin is the world’s largest source of renewable aromatic compounds, but its heterogeneous composition and sequence that varies by source make it difficult to use as a chemical feedstock. Oxidative depolymerization methods generate valuable aromatic products, but such processes are difficult to control because reaction conditions that support depolymerization also contribution to product decomposition.