Production of oleoresin from pine trees

Date:December 12, 2018

Country: United States

Application

• The applications of this project include the production of oleoresin which is an environmentally friendly alternatives to fossil-fuel based products, such as paint, varnish, shoe polish, and linoleum.

Description

Researchers at Washington State University have reverse-engineered the process by which pine trees produce oleoresin, a sticky, fragrant oil-resin mixture, which could serve as an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil-fuel based products. By dissecting the machinery behind oleoresin production in loblolly pine trees, the researchers aim to develop new engineering approaches for producing renewable, green chemicals, potentially leading to robust pine tree genotypes that can compete with classical oil-based chemistry.

Pathway Description:

The researchers concentrated on cells around the ducts, cutting them out with a laser-equipped microscope, and then identified genetic sequences known to produce certain enzymes and matched them to reactions that could lead to the creation of oleoresin.