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Rabbits are crazy about Russian dandelion. And the plant is not only suitable as rabbit food - it also has features which make it economically interesting: it produces rubber. As synthetically produced rubber products are becoming increasingly expensive due to rising oil prices, this dandelion could become an important source of rubber. Scientists at the University of Münster are researching into this.
Prof. Dirk Prüfer and his colleagues at the Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology at WWU are working on creating the right conditions for the production of rubber. Their aim is to cultivate a type of dandelion which, because of its characteristics, is considerably more suitable for the production of rubber than the traditional dandelion. In addition, they are carrying out basic research in order to improve understanding of the biological mechanisms of rubber production. Research into plants supplying rubber is being pushed forward by the new EU project entitled "EU PEARLS", which is being funded by the European Union to the tune of 5.6 million euros - of which 682,000 euros are going to the researchers in Münster.
As Prof. Prüfer says, "Natural rubber is becoming more and more interesting due to rising oil prices." However, conventional natural rubber extracted from rubber trees has two disadvantages. Firstly, the quantities currently being produced are barely sufficient and cannot be increased in the short term. And secondly, natural rubber extracted from rubber trees often gives rise to allergies, unlike synthetically produced rubber - and unlike rubber from dandelions.
While the common dandelion produces only very small amounts of rubber, and is therefore of no interest for rubber production, the Russian dandelion can supply large quantities of it - the proportion of rubber accounts for over one third of the plant's milky sap. However, there is a "problem": "As soon as the plant is damaged and the sap containing the latex escapes," Prof. Prüfer explains, "the sap turns brown and stops flowing." This reaction serves to seal the damage the plant tissue has incurred. At the same time, however, it prevents rubber from being extracted.
The researchers know which enzyme is responsible for the coagulation of the escaping sap. "There is no cessation of flow in the case of plants in which the gene responsible has been eliminated by genetic engineering," says Prof. Prüfer. "However, we only examine these plants in the lab and they should not get out into the environment." For this reason the researchers want to arrive at a plant, through traditional methods of cultivation, in which the cessation of flow is likewise eliminated. Prof. Prüfer estimates that it takes around five years for such a plant to be cultivated and made "ready for marketing". The dandelion could then supply the raw material for the manufacture not only of tyres, but also of products such as anti-allergenic gloves or condoms.
One great advantage that the dandelion has is that it is undemanding. It grows in soil which is unsuitable for the production of useful plants and could also be grown in Germany without any problem. As the Russian dandelion does not proliferate as much as its German counterpart, researchers have no fears that it could spread excessively in natural surroundings.
Rubber extracted from dandelions has - as far as is known at present - the same characteristics as synthetic rubber: for example, the elasticity is identical. The idea of using dandelions for rubber production is not new. "The Russian dandelion was already being used in the Second World War," says Prof. Prüfer, "by Russia, the USA and the Germans."
In the "EU PEARLS" project (EU-based Production and Exploitation of Alternative Rubber and Latex Sources), which is being coordinated by the Dutch University of Wageningen, universities, research centres and companies from five EU countries and from Switzerland, Kazachstan and the USA are working together to develop alternative sources of rubber. As part of the project, Prof. Prüfer and his colleagues are researching into the mechanisms of producing rubber from dandelions.
If there is to be large-scale cultivation of the Russian dandelion in future, one problem will have to be solved: rabbits' appetites. "On the other hand," says Prof. Prüfer with a grin, "the problem may solve itself if the rabbits simply can't eat the dandelions as fast as the plant proliferates. We know that from lettuce farmers: it's quantities that count."
http://www.uni-muenster.de/Biologie.IBBP/contact_pruefer.php?language=en AG Prof. Prüfer / WWU
Russian dandelion - not only suitable as rabbit food.
Quelle: photos (2): Christian Schulze Gronover
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