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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Microbiology (non-medical)
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Thermophilic Microbes in Environmental and Industrial Biotechnology - Biotechnology of Thermophiles (Hardcover, 2nd ed. 2013)
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Thermophilic Microbes in Environmental and Industrial Biotechnology - Biotechnology of Thermophiles (Hardcover, 2nd ed. 2013)
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The existence of life at high temperatures is quiet fascinating. At
elevated temperatures, only microorganisms are capable of growth
and survival. A variety of microbes survive and grow at such high
temperatures. Many thermophilic microbial genera have been isolated
from man-made (washing machines, factory effluents, waste streams
and acid mine effluents) and natural (volcanic areas, geothermal
areas, terrestrial hot springs, submarine hydrothermal vents,
geothermally heated oil reserves and oil wells, sun-heated litter
and soils/sediments) thermal habitats throughout the world. Both
culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches have been
employed for understanding the diversity of microbes in hot
environments. These organisms not only tolerate such high
temperatures but also usually require these for their growth and
survival. They are known as thermophiles/thermophilic microbes,
which include a wide variety of prokaryotes (Bacteria and Archaea)
as well as eukaryotes (Fungi, Algae, Protozoa). Interest in their
diversity, ecology, and physiology has increased enormously during
the past few decades as indicated by the deliberations in
international conferences on extremophiles and thermophiles every
alternate year. The Phylogenetic relationship of the known
microorganisms indicates the presence of thermophilic
microorganisms at the position close to the Last Universal Common
Ancestor (LUCA). It is widely accepted that metal-reducing
microorganisms have a large impact on the geochemistry of
subsurface environments through the cycling of metals and organic
matter, and thereby affect water quality and taste. Furthermore,
metal-reducing micro-organisms have potential applications in
bioremediation, mineral leaching and energy generation processes
and are of evolutionary interest as metal reduction is considered
to be a very ancient form of respiration. Protein characterization
surprisingly indicated that possible additional functionality and
alternate site promiscuity could contribute to the diverse
biochemical abilities of the bacteria, especially with respect to
microbe-metal interactions. Thermophilic bacteria are also able to
reduce a wide spectrum of other metals including Mn (IV), Cr (VI),
U (VI), Tc (VII), Co (III), Mo (VI), Au (I, III), and Hg (II) which
can be used for immobilization of toxic metals/radionuclides, e.g.
for the bioremediation of hot waste water of disposal sites of
radioactive wastes having temperature range favorable for
thermophiles for a long period of time. The main sources of CO in
hot environments inhabited by anaerobic thermophiles are volcanic
exhalations and thermal degradation of organic matter. A number of
phylogenetically diverse anaerobic prokaryotes, both Bacteria and
Archaea, are known to metabolize CO. CO transformation may be
coupled to methanogenesis, acetogenesis, hydrogenogenesis, sulfate
or ferric iron reduction. The key enzyme of anaerobic CO
utilization, the Ni-containing CO dehydrogenase, is synthesized in
hydrogenogens as an enzyme complex with the energy-converting
hydrogenase. The genomic analysis shows this enzymatic complex to
be encoded by a single gene cluster. Themophilic moulds and
bacteria have been extensively studied in plant biomass
bioconversion processes, as sources of industrial enzymes and as
gene donors for the heterologous expression of thermostable
enzymes. In the development of third generation biofuels such as
bioethanol, thermophilic fungal and bacterial enzymes are of
particular interest. The entire genomes of several thermophilic
bacteria and archaea have already been sequenced. The analysis of
the genomic data provided resources for novel and useful proteins
and enzymes. The entire genomic data have also provided specific
feature of microbes and important information on the evolution of
thermophilic microorganisms. In some thermophilic archaea, multiple
types of chaperonins have been identified. The chaperonins have
been found to change according to the environmental conditions,
suggesting that the mechanism for maintaining correct structure of
thermostable proteins in the thermophilic archaea is regulated by
changing chaperonine molecules. These organisms have evolved
several structural and chemical adaptations, which allow them to
survive and grow at elevated temperatures. Thermostable enzymes
play an important role in the biosynthesis of fine chemicals. They
are generally more robust against the conditions of industrial
biocatalysis utilized by the industry, which can be solvent based
or at elevated temperatures. Many non-natural industrially
interesting substrates are often not soluble under aqueous
conditions and at ambient temperatures. The thermophilic Archaea
are a good source of these enzymes, which have been cloned and
over-expressed in Escherichia coli. These include alcohol
dehydrogenases for chiral alcohol production, aminoacylases for
optically pure amino acids and amino acid analogues, transaminases
for chiral amine production and gamma lactamases for chiral gamma
lactam building blocks which are subsequently incorporated into
carbocyclic nucleotides. Considerable interest has been generated
in the mechanism that nature utilizes to increase the stability of
enzymes found in thermophilic and hyperthermophilic species. A
comparative approach has been used to carry out a detailed study of
specific enzymes from a range of organisms in order to understand
acquired stability at a structural level. A directed or
site-specific mutagenesis approach has been used for stabilizing
mesophilic proteins. The specific mutations have been introduced by
looking at the most primitive forms of life, which are thought to
have evolved in a thermophilic environment. The book is aimed at
bringing together scattered up-to-date information on various
aspects of thermophiles such as the diversity of thermophiles and
viruses of thermophiles, their potential roles in pollution control
and bioremediation, composting and microb
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