With a perfect home — fallen logs on the forest floor, the Shiitake mushrooms will no more be sold as a delicacy in the produce section of your local supermarket. They could help make a practical alternative to today’s petroleum-based fuels — ethanol and other products.



Agricultural Research Service scientists in California are looking at bringing the gourmet mushrooms’ close to serving the environment. A Shiitake gene is found to be the key to the mushroom’s ability to dissolve wood. Called Xyn11A, the gene carries the instructions that the mushroom uses to make an enzyme known as xylanase.



The researchers seem to have kept their fingers crossed to see if a ramped-up version of the gene could be put to work digesting rice hulls or other harvest leftovers. And if the experiment becomes successful, ethanol and other products could be made faster and more efficiently.



Via: Science Daily