Enzymes from thermophiles

Abstract

The most frequently used sources of more stable enzymes are thermophilic bacteria, e.g. Bacillus, Closrridium, and Therrnus strains, occurring in natural as well as man-made habitats. They grow from 55 to 88 "C with a specific growth rate of up to 2.6 h-' and a yield coefficient of up to 0.4 gram of dry cell weight per gram of carbohydrate consumed. Several thermophilic strains, e.g. Bacillus sp. TP32, rapidly and effectively produce enzymes having a higher thermal stability and resistance to chemical denaturants in comparison to their mesophilic counterparts. Therefore, thermostable enzymes are of importance for bioorganic syntheses. For the further optimization of enzyme production, genetic engineering is applied.