Uses of extremophilic microorganisms
Extremophilic microorganisms are called extremophiles and live in environments considered hostile to most forms of life. Scientists have only discovered life in these extreme environments in the last few decades. Extremophiles are not able to be grown or cultivated in a laboratory using common techniques, so scientists didn’t even know they existed for many years.
Geothermal extremophiles
Extremophiles living in a geothermal habitat provide much of the colour on the rocks at Waimangu Volcanic Valley, Rotorua. They must deal with both sulfurous and very hot conditions.
Most of the bacteria that live in Antarctica can’t be cultivated using the methods that we know about. One of the reasons is that they live in quite complex communities – so one bacterium relies on its buddies to be able to survive.
Dr Adele Williamson
In order to survive, extremophiles have become specialised for different extreme environments. Species have adapted and evolved to survive in conditions such as extreme temperatures or pH, high salinity, UV bombardment, lack of oxygen and/or low nutrient levels.
Extremophile microorganisms have adapted to these extreme conditions. They utilise unique biochemical processes to make effective use of the resources available and protect them from damage caused by the environment. These processes involve many unique metabolic pathways and are controlled by unique enzymes that are not found in other living things.
Dr Adele Williamson from The University of Waikato is looking at extremophiles from a variety of sources including Antarctic soil samples and the upper layers of the ocean. Her research aims to source new and novel enzymes that could have multiple applications, for example in new medicines and therapies and as laboratory tools.
Discovering the function of enzymes
Dr Adele Williamson from The University of Waikato explains how scientists research the function of enzymes. Her research on extremophilic microorganisms is discovering unique enzymes. Finding out the function of these newly discovered enzymes is an important step to exploring if they may be useful in other fields of science.
Find out more about Dr Adele Williamson’s research in these articles:
Unique enzymes
Enzymes have many uses in industry, medicine, our homes and a range of other things. Many enzymes found in extremophiles can function outside the range of the ‘normal’ conditions most enzymes require. Some are involved in biochemical reactions that produce potentially useful products, in important biochemical processes or in the efficient breakdown of particular substrates. They are very interesting to molecular biologists as they offer a potential source of new biotechnology tools, processes and products.
DNA damage
Dr Adele Williamson from The University of Waikato explains how DNA repair processes within cells are vital to multicellular organisms like ourselves. When damage occurs to DNA that is not repairable or mutations of the genetic material have impacts on biological processes, they can be fatal to the cell or it could cause diseases such as cancer.
Learn about Adele's research with enzymes including those involved in DNA repair, and the scientific concepts that underpin this work:
Many extremophiles have extremely effective DNA repair and replication mechanisms by using unique enzyme-controlled biochemistry to counter the harshness of their environment. Enzymes such as restriction enzymes involved in DNA repair and replication are particularly useful for biotechnology. Understanding how these mechanisms operate in extremophiles may enable scientists to expand the potential range of situations and uses for enzyme-based biotechnology tools.
Researching uses of extremophiles
Dr Adele Williamson from The University of Waikato is researching extremophiles. She wants to understand what mechanisms these bacteria have evolved that allow them to preserve their genetic material in these extreme environments and if that could lead to new and exciting advancements in diagnostic tools in hospitals or in the field.
Point of interest:
At 1 minute 40 seconds into this video, you’ll see Adele talking with Professor Craig Cary. Craig oversaw the team that collected soil samples from the Dry Valleys in Antarctica. It is these samples that Adele has extracted microorganisms from for her research.
Find out more about Dr Adele Williamson’s research and the scientific concepts that underpin this work:
As extremophiles are unable to be propagated in the laboratory, in order to produce quantities of an enzyme of interest, scientists must first sequence the DNA and isolate the gene(s) responsible for the enzyme’s production. Then, using techniques such as PCR, DNA cloning and recombinant DNA technology, scientists can produce and modify these enzymes for the desired purpose(s).
The bacterium E. coli is often used in these processes because it is easily grown and well understood. DNA can be inserted into plasmids of E. coli, which can then be utilised in a variety of ways – including to make large quantities of a useful enzyme.
Why is E. coli useful?
E. coli is a useful organism. It is used in laboratories across the world for many different purposes. Dr Adele Williamson from The University of Waikato explains why E. coli is such an important tool for science.
Find out about Dr Adele Williamson’s research to find new tools for molecular biology:
Nature of science
As our understanding of extremophiles and their unique biochemistry increases, so do the potential applications of this knowledge in biotechnology.
Related content
Read these articles for more information about enzymes, proteins and biotechnology:
Activity idea
Try this activity for students to explore enzyme action.
Useful links
In July 2022 RadioNZ’s Our Changing World programmes featured Dr Adele Williamson and her work on the clues about DNA repair systems from bacteria found in Antarctica and also in the Secrets of Antarctic microbes.
