Brown Juggles Multiple Projects in Biofuel Research

By Patrick Young

Many Sustainable Energy Research Center (SERC) researchers find themselves having to balance a rigorous experimentation schedule while also teaching numerous classes.  SERC researcher Ashli Brown is no stranger to having to burn the midnight oil to fulfill her passion of educating and the sciences. 
Brown’s energy and willingness to take on multiple projects has made her an up-and-coming leader in biofuels research. 
Since arriving from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) just two years ago, Brown said the focus of biofuels has changed drastically.
“The general focus of biofuels has really shifted even in the short amount of time that I have been working with biofuels,” Brown said. “We went from the first generation and looking at biodiesel and now looking at the second generation of biofuels, which features lignocellulosic conversion to make transportation fuels.”
Some of the problems facing these conversions are the complicated steps involved and the high costs that come along with them.  One of Brown’s main objectives is to make the process more economically feasible to the public.
“One of ways that I started was by collaborating with Todd French and Rafael Hernandez at looking at oleaginous microorganisms as a potential feedstock.  These yeasts have the ability to produce up to 60% of their dry mass in lipids and can use wastewater sewage as a carbon source to produce oil.
“Additionally, these microorganisms contain cellulases and hemicellulases, two classes of enzymes that hydrolyze cellulose. These enzymes have the ability to break down the lignin to sugars that can ultimately be converted to biofuels ,” she said.  “I want to identify the pH, temperature and other optimal conditions that are needed for the enzymes to fully make a conversion. We started looking at Rhodotorula glutinis and Cryptococcus curvatusand using classical biochemical and analytical skills such as LCMS and HPLC to do the characterization.”
Brown hopes that by understanding what conditions are needed for the enzymes to function, that she and other SERC researchers can apply them to the fermentation process to create economically feasible biofuels. 
Aside from this project Brown, along with SERC member Jeff Wilkinson, is examining the natural ability of fungi to degrade mycotoxins in hopes of aiding the ethanol industry and providing general food safety. 
“In another project working with Wilkinson and Brian Baldwin, we propose to genetically modify Miscanthus x giganteus (Mxg) with the primary goal of reducing the lignin and ultimately decrease or eliminate the need for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass.
“You have to add a lot of acid to your feedstock to break lignin down since it’s such a large polymer,” she said. “We are working to see if we could modify giant miscanthus to have a weak lignin polymer and then it would be easier to digest and perhaps eliminate some acid hydrolysis.”
Over the upcoming summer, they will be applying gamma radiation to miscanthus, creating mutated plants with weak polymers.  If successful, this could help Brown and SERC find yet again another way to eliminate a step in the complex field of biofuels and alternative fuel research. 

Profile
Ashli Brown is an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry at Mississippi State University. Brown’s areas of expertise include Physical biochemistry, emzymology, protein kinases, insect pheromones and gas chromatography.  She received her Ph.D.  from the University of Southern Florida.