Biochemist studies oilseed plants for biofuel, industrial development
Date: 21.8.2015
A Kansas State University biochemistry professor Timothy Durrett has reached a milestone in building a better biofuel: producing high levels of lipids with modified properties in oil seeds.
Durrett and collaborators have modified Camelina sativa - a nonfood oilseed crop - and produced the highest levels of modified seed lipids to date. By modifying the oilseed biochemistry in camelina, the researchers have achieved very high levels of an oil with reduced viscosity and improved cold temperature characteristics.
The goal of the research is to alter oilseeds to produce large amounts of modified oil that can be used as improved biofuels or even industrial and food-related applications.
Camelina can grow on poorer quality farmland, needs little irrigation or fertilizer, and produces seeds that can provide gallons of oil, Durrett said. It also can be rotated with wheat and could become a biofuel crop for semi-arid regions, including western Kansas and Colorado.
The camelina genome was recently sequenced, which has greatly helped Durrett and collaborators as they improve camelina's oil properties to produce low-viscosity oil -- the kind of oil needed for biofuel.
