For TerAvest, who holds a Ph.D. in biological and environmental engineering from Cornell University, the best way to figure out how something works is to break it. That means first manipulating genes in Z. mobilis to slow down conversion of sugar to fuel. There’s a practical reason to break this function too. “If we understand how to turn this behavior on and off,” says TerAvest, “we can speed up the growth stage early in the industrial process, then switch into production stage when we want them to make all that fuel.”

Working with Jennifer Reed, University of Wisconsin–Madison associate professor of chemical and biological and chemical engineering, TerAvest’s team looks for growth genes in another biofuel producer, E. coli. Reed then runs models to determine which of these genes, when added to Z. mobilis, would make the bacteria reproduce faster while also slowing down its fuel production.

So far, the uniqueness of Z. mobilis is reflected in its willingness, or lack thereof, to take on new genes. “It really does not like foreign DNA,” says TerAvest, describing how the bacteria merely chops up unidentified genetic pathways. “It’s uncommon for bacteria to be so resistant in this way.”

But TerAvest suggests that the bacteria’s small genome – the fact that there isn’t much there for scientists to alter – might also be what has made it so successful in quickly making ethanol. “We think that part of its strategy in being so fast is that it doesn’t keep anything extra around to get distracted by other pathways,” says TerAvest.

Cracking the bacteria’s genetic code will be a challenge, but TerAvest is buoyed by the very thing that first brought her to studying microbes: her own penchant for quick results. “Bacteria are so much faster than anything else to study. You can start an experiment one day and have an outcome the next.” When the right information falls into place, TerAvest says, Z. mobilis breakthroughs could come fast.

GLBRC is one of four U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers created to provide scientific breakthroughs for a new generation of sustainable, cost-effective biofuels and bioproducts. For more information on GLBRC, visit www.glbrc.org or visit us on twitter.