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Content archived on 2024-04-30

Extremophiles as cell factories

Objective



Summary Extremophilic archaea and bacteria have tremendous potential in biotechnology because of their ability to grow under extreme conditions and to produce unique stable products with high technological value. A number of enzymes from hyperthermophiles like Pyrococcus and Thermococcus, that are involved in DNA processing, are already on the market. The objective of this integrated project is aiming at the production of industrial enzymes (e.g. hydrolases and DNA polymerases) and other products (organic solutes and lipids) from selected extremophiles. Research work will be concentrating on few model organisms including hyperthermophiles (Pyrococcus, Thermococcus, Pyrodictium), extreme thermophiles (Thermotoga, Rhodothermus, Sulfolobus), psychrophiles ( Vibrio) and halophiles (Marinococcus). In order to overcome the limited production of enzymes and other organic compounds and in order to tailor these for specific applications the proposed project will be performed in an interdisciplinary manner involving (a) genetic engineering, (b) fermentation technology and (c) product engineering.
Various strategies will be used with the aim of optimization of growth of selected extremophiles. A special pilot plant bioreactor will be constructed which will allow a high mass transfer capacity between liquid and gaseous phase. Specific attention will be given to the development of expression systems for hyperthermophiles, thermoacidophiles and halophiles. The overexpression of novel products in extreme thermophiles and mesophiles will allow for further exploitation of the potential of these microbes. The analysis of structure-function relationships, the clarification of stability and specificity and catalysis mechanism will be needed to use enzymes from extremophiles in diagnostics, molecular biology and other industrial processes.

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Coordinator

Technische Universitat Hamburg-Harburg
EU contribution
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Address
Denickestraße 15
21071 Hamburg
Germany

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Participants (39)

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