Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2013 / May / 15 / Okanagan discovery powers biofuel research at Berkeley

Okanagan discovery powers biofuel research at Berkeley

By universityrelations on May 15, 2013

Soheil Mahmoud

Biologist Soheil Mahmoud in the lab with lavender plants.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have used a gene identified and characterized at UBC’s Okanagan campus to improve how bacteria convert biomass into fuel.

In research published in the journal Planta [Demissie ZA, Sarker L, and Mahmoud SS 2011, Planta 233: 685-696], Soheil Mahmoud’s team in the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences identified the gene that makes the monoterpene β-phellandrene, a biochemical compound that contributes to the essential oil and scent in lavender plants.

The Berkeley researchers used the gene to demonstrate that cyanobacteria are capable of producing β-phellandrene as a potential biofuel molecule. It turns out that β-phellandrene synthase makes a big difference in how much fuel the bacteria are able to generate. The Berkeley research was published in March in the journal Bioenergy Research.

Posted in Irving K Barber School of Arts and Sciences (prior July 2020) | Tagged Exchange

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility