P121: Mining Metagenomes for novel Biocatalysts

With the introduction of the research field „Metagenomics“approximately ten years ago a new window for the discovery of novel biocatalyst or bioactive compounds has been opened. Only 0.1-1 % of microbial species can be successfully cultivated under laboratory conditions. The advantage of metagenomic approaches is that cultivation is not necessary, thus the entire gene pool of microbial communities can be assessed and exploited. Especially extremophile organisms offer a wide variety of enzymes. The evolutionary pressure in their harsh environments has shaped the enzymes to biocatalysts with unique characteristics. In our studies, samples from icy to hot environments were screened for enzymes with potential for biotechnological applications. Glaciers, volcanoes, biofilms, composts, soils, snow, sludge, biogas fermenters and many other habitats were used as a source for DNA extraction and construction of metagenomic DNA libraries. Functional screens of the corresponding libraries resulted in a high number of novel genes encoding industrially relevant enzyme types. The Göttingen Genomics Lab provide the technology to perform DNA sequencing employing next generation techniques sequencing, which enables in addition to function-driven screenings also sequence-driven screens for new enzymes based on direct sequencing of environmental DNA.