General Competition (November 1993)

Hyperthermophilic Microorganisms in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

Sponsor: Amersham Biosciences (formerly United States Biochemical Corp.)

• Project Performance Period: 2/15/1994 - 2/14/1997
• Total project (est.): $2,396,591.00
• Requested ATP funds: $1,557,689.00

The outer boundaries of "life as we know it" have moved considerably over the years with the discoveries of life forms living in conditions once thought impossibly hostile. Among the more intriguing are the hyperthermophiles -- microorganisms that live around deep-sea hydrothermal vents. These vents allow sea water to penetrate deep into the earth's crust, where the water is heated by magma. The water boils out of ocean floor "chimneys" at temperatures that can go over 400 C., surrounded by deep-sea water with an ambient temperature of about 2 C. The natives of this extreme region are the Archaea, a phylum of very primitive bacteria. They are made up from the same amino acids as the rest of the earth's creatures, but whereas most other organisms cannot survive at much above 40 C., the Archaea not only can live in boiling water, but in fact need temperatures above 80 C. to grow. Some of the enzymes produced by the hyperthermophiles are expected to be of great interest to industry because they could be used in many industrially important processes, and obviously function at temperatures far in excess of those tolerated by all other known enzymes. Currently, enzymes are used widely in food preparation, detergents, bulk chemical, specialty chemical processing, and diagnostics to the tune of about $600 million per year in the U.S. alone -- and sales are expected to top $1 billion by the end of the decade. Enzymes that can function under high pressure and temperature would remove one of the key limitations to their use, greatly expanding this market. USB proposes a program to develop a significant collection of hyperthermophilic strains, characterize their molecular properties, identify and characterize enzymes of potential commercial interest, significantly extend the database of DNA sequences for the hyperthermophiles, and clone and express the genes for hyperthermostabile enzymes of commercial interest. Initially the project will concentrate on DNA-modifying enzymes and hydrolases. The company will work on this project with the Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB) of the University of Maryland, a leading center of research on the hyperthermophiles. In addition to isolating enzymes with important commercial potential, the project is expected to make important contributions to basic research in the DNA of hyperthermophiles.

For project information:

Vince Kazmer, (800) 321-9322

ATP Project Manager

Douglas Bischoff, (301) 975-8597
douglas.bischoff@nist.gov