Scientists have found a substance growing in fungi in a South American rainforest that closely resembles diesel fuel, offering a new avenue in the search for sustainable biofuels.

The fungus, Gliocladium roseum, was found growing in the ulmo tree in northern Patagonia and containing a rich cocktail of hydrocarbons, including the eight most plentiful ingredients of diesel.

Publishing their findings in the science journal Microbiology, the researchers, led by Gary Strobel from Montana State University, said the fungus had been shown to feed on cellulose, meaning it could be grown using plant waste.

“This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances,” Strobel said in the study.

Dubbing this mix ‘mycodiesel’, its discoverers said the fungus that produced it could possibly be grown en masse in factories and its hydrocarbon-rich gases collected for liquid fuel.

The fungus appears to offer a much more efficient method of producing transport fuels than currently used. Fuels generally require large amounts of heat, pressure and chemical additives in their production, but much of this work is already done by Gliocladium roseum in producing mycodiesel.

Scientists are searching for new generations of biofuel sources and processes to overcome the problems of first-generation green fuels; where the use of food crops and arable land are said to have increased food prices and deforestation rates.

Agence France-Presse, Guardian, Discover magazine 4/11/08