of the organisms that provide the enzymes currently in use by
industry - food, detergents, detection of pollutants by biosensors
- live in environments where the temperature ranges from 30°C
to 40°C, so their enzymes' effectiveness is highly temperature-sensitive.
Consequently, many processes require heating - at best expensive,
at worst infeasible. Ensuring high-performance enzymatic activity
at low temperatures therefore represents an important industrial
goal. Where does the solution lie? Out in the cold, of course.
Next Stop: Antarctica
Researchers have discovered numerous micro-organisms that are
perfectly adapted to extreme conditions - to temperatures as high
as 100°C, to acid or alkaline environments, and to very high salinity.
In the nine-member Coldzyme project, for example, researchers
have collected thousands of micro-organisms from around Antarctica
and studied their enzymes to discover how they adapted to the
cold. The project brings university research groups and companies
from six countries together, and focuses on enzymatic activity
of genuine interest to biotechnological application.
Within the space of one year the researchers had resolved the
three-dimensional structure and patented two major enzymes: alpha-amylase,
which could be used in the breadmaking, textiles, brewing and
detergents industries, and a calcium-zinc protease, which could
be useful for detergents and meat tenderising. They had also discovered
the enzymes' secret: their extreme flexibility allows them to
deform very easily in order to do their job.
The manufacturing partners have already begun testing certain
enzymes, while the wider industrial community has followed the
work through the BIOTECH programme's Microbiology Industrial Platform.
Their interest is understandable, as the project has broken new
ground in the area of cell factories, particularly in the fields
of cold shock proteins, genetic control systems, membrane compositions
and excretion mechanisms. The potential industrial applications