Genetically engineered bacteria could one day be harnessed to make renewable propane fuel.

Patrik Jones at Imperial College London, Kalim Akhtar at University College London and their colleagues introduced genes for various enzymes from different species of bacteria into Escherichia coli, so that the microbe could convert glucose into propane gas. With genetic tinkering and by increasing the levels of oxygen to which the engineered bacterium was exposed, the team boosted propane production by two orders of magnitude.

Propane is an ideal biofuel because as a gas, it can be separated from the cultivation medium and easily liquefied for efficient storage, the authors say.

Nature Commun. 5, 4731 (2014)