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Title: Plant-Derived Terpenes: A Feedstock for Specialty Biofuels

Journal Article · · Trends in Biotechnology
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [5];  [1]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biology and Soft Matter Division
  3. Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia). Research School of Biology
  4. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Department of Plant Sciences
  5. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). School of Forest Resources and Conservation

Research toward renewable and sustainable energy has identified candidate terpenes capable of blending/replacing petroleum-derived jet, diesel and tactical fuels. Additionally, despite being naturally produced and stored by many plants, there are few examples of commercial recovery of terpenes from plants due to low yields. Plant terpene biosynthesis is regulated at multiple levels leading to wide variability in terpene content and chemistry. Advances in the plant molecular toolkit including annotated genomes, high-throughput omics profiling and genome-editing provides an ideal platform for high-resolution analysis and in-depth understanding of plant terpene metabolism. Concomitantly, such information is useful for bioengineering strategies of metabolic pathways for candidate terpenes. Within this paper, we review the status of terpenes as an advanced biofuel and discuss the potential of plants as a viable agronomic solution for future advanced terpene-derived biofuels.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; ORNL LDRD Director's R&D
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1327615
Journal Information:
Trends in Biotechnology, Journal Name: Trends in Biotechnology Journal Issue: - Vol. -; ISSN 0167-7799
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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