The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei was discovered during World War II in the South Pacific: he was responsible for the degradation of equipment from the U.S. Army. Through a battery of very powerful enzymes to produce sugar which he eats, he came to the end of all textile plants (cotton, hemp, flax, etc.). It has been regarded by researchers as a reference model for the transformation of cellulose plant in simple sugars that can then be easily processed by fermentation, a type of biofuel ethanol.

In order to penetrate the mysteries enzymatic activity of Trichoderma, its genome has been sequenced by a U.S. team then analyzed by Bernard Henrissat and his team of laboratory Architecture and Function of Biological Macromolecules CNRS. Their results have just been published in the journal "Nature Biotechnology." Against all odds, this work shows that, compared to other fungi are capable of breaking the wall of plants, Trichoderma uses a number of enzymes very small. It seems to be deprived of enzymes that can digest some components of the plant walls.

Optimizing g é nome

First interpreted as bad news, the limitations of this model organism is ultimately a boon for researchers and industrialists who want to use it to produce bioethanol. "We now know that this enzyme cocktail used by the Trichoderma can easily be improved," said Pedro Coutinho, who participated in the work. "We will therefore seek what enzymes can be added to the genome of this fungus to more effectively transforms plants in simple sugars."

A bio biofuel really?

The researcher predicted that with such genetically modified mushrooms "the cost of producing a litre of bioethanol is closer to that of a litre of petrol classic. And the interest is not just financial ...