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Jun. 8, 2009 01:52 PM

Climate change and fluctuating oil prices are creating an urgent need for eco-friendly fuels, such as bioethanol. Ethanol is already an ingredient in some gasoline. One of the crucial steps in biofuel production is the breakdown of cellulose to simple sugars, such as glucose. Sugars can be fermented to produce ethanol - a sustainable fuel.

Plant material (including farm and forestry waste) is an abundant source of cellulose and a potential source of fermentable sugars for biofuel. However, cellulose is difficult to convert into sugars - but termites may have the answer.

Wood-infesting termites possess a variety of enzymes that efficiently (and quickly) break down cellulose into usable sugars. This bioconversion is done primarily by bacteria and protozoa in the termite gut, but some termite species can produce the powerful enzymes themselves. Research on the extraordinary termite gut may lead to the design of bioreactors that can produce biofuels from almost any plant material.