Gliocladium roseum

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Clonostachys rosea f. rosea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Phylum:	Ascomycota
Class:	Sordariomycetes
Subclass:	Hypocreomycetidae
Order:	Hypocreales
Family:	Bionectriaceae
Genus:	Clonostachys
Species:	C. rosea f. rosea
Binomial name
*Clonostachys rosea f. rosea* (Link) Schroers, (1999)
Synonyms
Clonostachys araucaria Clonostachys araucaria var. confusa Clonostachys rosea Gliocladium aureum Gliocladium roseum Haplotrichum roseum Penicillium roseum

Clonostachys rosea f. rosea, also known as Gliocladium roseum,^[1] is a species of fungus in the family Bionectriaceae. It colonizes living plants as an endophyte, digests material in soil as a saprophyte and is also known as a parasite of other fungi and of nematodes.^[2] It produces a wide range of volatile organic compounds which are toxic to organisms including other fungi, bacteria, and insects, and is of interest as a biological pest control agent. The volatile emissions of one strain, found growing in the ulmo trees in the rainforests of Patagonia (Argentina and Chile), have been said to resemble diesel, and thus to be a potential biofuel.^[3]

1 Biological control
2 Biofuels
3 Potential environmental and socioeconomics benefits
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Biological control

Clonostachys rosea protects plants against Botrytis cinerea ("grey mold") by suppressing spore production.^[4] Its hyphae have been found to coil around, penetrate, and grow inside the hyphae and conidia of B. cinera.^[5]

Nematodes are infected by C. rosea when the fungus' conidia attach to their cuticle and germinate, going on to produce germ tubes which penetrate the host's body and kill it.^[4]

Biofuels

Main articles: Bioalcohol and Biodiesel

Recently it was discovered that a fungus that was found in the Patagonian Rain Forest has potential of becoming a bio-fuel. Gliocladium roseum, according to many researchers, has many distinctive combinations of gases, including hydrocarbons, the same gases that are used to fuel diesel engines.^[6] They have suggested that this, combined with its ability to digest cellulose, make it a valuable potential source of biofuel.^[7]

Professor Gary Strobel of Montana State University, who led the work, said, "this is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances."^[8]

In Strobel's study, volatile hydrocarbons and their derivates were produced when the genetically atypical strain was cultured on both oatmeal-based agar and on a cellulose-based medium. Compounds produced on the oatmeal-based medium included "an extensive series of the acetic acid esters of straight-chained alkanes", cyclohexane, isomers of decane and undecane, and others. Those produced on the cellulose-based medium included heptane, octane, benzene, and some branched hydrocarbons. Fatty acids and lipids were also found in liquid cultures.^[9]

An endophytic Hypoxylon/Nodulosporium species, or one that lives within a plant, that makes the compound cineole along with a number of other cyclohexanes and compounds with enormous fuel potential. Cineole is of special interest since it has been shown that it can be added to gasoline at a ratio of 8 parts cineole to 1 part of gasoline, ending up with a final octane rating of 95.^[10]

Potential environmental and socioeconomics benefits

This fungus' ability to convert cellulose to hydrocarbons could provide environmental and socioeconomic benefit because it may allow for organic waste products such as sawdust to be used in biofuel production instead of food sources such as corn.^[3]