Natural rubber comes largely from the Hevea brasiliensis - A tree present in South-Eastern Asia. The production of this material become essential for modern society is still now threatened : A fungus infects indeed a growing number of Hevea brasiliensis on the planet and especially in South-Eastern Asia. To continue to reap the precious substance, a team of scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute of Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) of Aix-la-Chapelle is currently working on obtaining natural rubber from dandelions. By preventing the spontaneous polymerization of rubber from dandelion, researchers have just taken a big step toward industrial production of natural rubber from this plant.

Rubber: omnipresent threat

Approximately 30,000 products of everyday life contain natural rubber. The car tires, tubes, catheters and latex gloves are all examples of the variety of applications of this natural substance. Much of the world is located in South-Eastern Asia where tropical climatic conditions lend themselves particularly well to the culture of the Hevea brasiliensis. This species, and thereby the production of rubber, however, is threatened by the spread of a fungus that has infected many trees in South America. More worryingly, the contamination is now observed in several areas of South-Eastern Asia. Although it is possible to fight against this fungus using fungicides, the use of such means would not be possible if contamination spread over large areas. Industry caoutchoutière would be very fragile.

Researchers at the EMI of Aix-la-Chapelle attempting to use the Russian dandelion to produce rubber, as had been the case during the Second World War. The rubber is getting difficult, however, rubber obtained by polymerizing plant immediately. This property implicitly prohibits large-scale production of natural rubber from dandelions.

New rubber non-allergenic?

Scientists are now able to identify the enzyme responsible for the rapid curing rubber dandelion. By disabling the enzyme, they have obtained genetically modified plants capable of producing up to four to five times more rubber than dandelions Russian classics. "By planting these plants on a large scale, it would be possible to produce 500 to 1000 kilograms of latex per hectare per growing season," said Prof.. Dr. Dirk Prüfer, laboratory director at EMI. Another advantage of dandelion rubber has so far caused no allergies. It is therefore particularly recommended for clinical use products.

Researchers now are trying to cultivate dandelions genetically modified by conventional techniques. Prüfer estimates that this step will be taken within five years. The mass cultivation of dandelion will produce another precious substance secreted by the plant: the indulin.