Termites Tapped for Biofuel Study
A team of scientists at Washington State University, Pullman Washington, recently carried out a study on the digestive process of termites, for aid in developing enzymatic processes to create biofuels.
A team of scientists at Washington State University, Pullman Washington, recently carried out a study on the digestive process of termites, for aid in developing enzymatic processes to create biofuels.
Scientists Jing Ke, Dhrubojyoti D. Laskar, Deepak Singh, and Shulin Chen investigated the structural modification by termites in the lignin biomolecular assembly in softwood tissues critical for cell wall degradation. The team did comparative studies on termite-digested (termite feces) and native (control) softwood tissues using advanced analytical techniques including Carbon 13 charge polarized/magic angle spinning, nuclear magnetic resonance, pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass sepctrometry (13C CP/MAS NMR), and flash pyrolysis in the presence of tetramethylammonium hydroxide.
The 13C CP/MAS NMR spectroscopic analysis showed elevated levels of guaiacyl-derived polymeric framework in the termite feces, and specific evidence of cellulose degradation. Py-GC/MS analysis revealed significant differences in the product distribution between control and termite feces.
According to the team, the study results provide insight into lignin unlocking mechanisms for understanding plant cell wall deconstruction, which may help develop a new enzymatic pretreatment process that mimics termite digestion for biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels and chemicals.
The results were published in the June 14, 2011 issue of the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels.
Extraction of 40 PFAS Compounds from Soil and Tissue
December 6th 2024PFAS have been shown to cause health issues in humans, which means monitoring environmental solid samples, such as soil and tissue, is critical. This application note details the extraction of 40 spiked PFAS compounds from soil and tissue following EPA Method 1633. The automated extraction was less than 10 minutes per sample and yielded acceptable recoveries and RSDs without carryover in the system. The EDGE PFAS is an ideal option for laboratories that want to automate their PFAS extractions of solid samples.
