AMHERST, Mass. – A University of Massachusetts microbiologist may have unearthed a microscopic organism that could revolutionize the production of ethanol.

Susan Leschine is receiving national attention for the discovery of the microbe in the soils off a hiking trail on the western side of the Quabbin Reservoir.

Better yet, one of the nation’s top three ethanol producers, VeraSun Energy of Brookings, S.D., has agreed to provide millions of dollars in financing to develop the microbe. Several private equity companies are also providing investments.

“It’s fantastic,” said Leschine, who started 30 years ago as an assistant professor at the Amherst campus. She has long studied microbes that attack certain plants.

The organism, called the Q-microbe, may be her most important finding.

The Q-microbe has some unusual abilities, Leschine said.

It can break down a huge range of plant materials – including sugar cane waste and wood pulp – and convert them into ethanol, an alternative fuel for vehicles now produced from corn in this country.

Cellulosic ethanol, as it is called, could eventually replace corn-based ethanol and dirty fossil fuels.

Cellulosic ethanol promises to be cleaner than corn ethanol, and it would use renewable waste materials for the fuel, keeping corn for food.

Leschine said it is widely recognized that the ethanol industry needs to evolve into utilizing materials that are not used for food.

The big advantage of the microbe is that it promises to simplify and dramatically reduce the costs of converting biomass into ethanol.