On August 17, 2018, researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) announced its progress in accelerating the process of biofuel-making. Through the use of biotechnology, their research demonstrates that an enzyme, glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) from the red algae Cyanidioschyzon merolae, can contribute to the biofuel production process. Algae is often used to produce biofuels because it contains high amounts of triacyglycerols (TAG) under certain conditions, which can be converted into biodiesel. Using Cyanidioschyzon merolae as a control strain, researchers at Tokyo Tech discovered that the reactions catalyzed by GPAT presence in this single-celled red algae “is a rate-limiting step for TAG synthesis […] and would be a potential target for improvement of TAG productivity in microalgae,” accelerating biofuel production.
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