New Source of Biofuels: Tobacco Plants

  

An agricultural engineer in the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre in Spain, Ruth Sanz-Barrio, explored the possibility of genetically altering tobacco plants in her PhD thesis. By targeting thioredoxins she was able to increase the starch that the tobacco plants were able to produce. As a result the tobacco plants were able to release 500% more fermentable sugars which could later be used for bioethanol production. These new genetically modified tobacco plants have become a more efficient source of biofuel production, one which could lead to a future profit. It has also altered our understanding of thioredoxins. Thioredoxins are small proteins that can be found the chloroplasts of many organisms. Previously, scientists believed that all thioredoxins acted in the same manner, but it was soon discovered that thioredoxin f was more efficient than thioredoxin m in regulating carbohydrates. It is this regulation that lead to the increase of starch production in this plant.

In addition to the production of starch, these thioredoxins were also able to increase the production of proteins such as human albumin; human albumin can be used for “burns, surgical operations, hemorrhages, or when the patient is undernourished or dehydrated, and in the case of chronic infections and renal or hepatic diseases.” Because human albumin is usually found in the blood, there is a limited supply available to doctors. The increased production of this protein in tobacco plants can become an alternative source for obtaining human albumin. Not only will this new genetically altered tobacco plant great profit for tobacco industries, but it can potentially save lives.