Functional genomics of extremophiles

Present Research Activity:

Functional Genomics of Extremophile towards gene prospecting

Molecules derived from natural products particularly those produced by microorganisms have an excellent record of providing novel chemical structures for development as new pharmaceuticals, bio-actives, biocatalysts and biomaterials. Microorganisms namely extremophiles represent the largest reservoir of un-described bio-diversity. Considering the above facts not much more work has been done in our country to explore the microorganisms associated in the extreme ecological niches viz., hot springs, marine environments, acids and alkaline lakes and the hydrothermal vents in deep sea. In fact, the majority of antibiotics in current use are naturally produced by either bacteria or fungi. Discovery of new bacteria and new antibiotics is still a distinct possibility, despite years of bacterial biodiversity research. Therefore it is prerequisite to isolate and characterize microorganisms and to identify their role in bio-prospect for new enzymes, novel genes and bio-molecules. The main focus is under following headings: (i) to investigate the potential of microbes from extreme ecological niches for biotechnological exploitation. (ii) To relate phylogenetic diversity to physiological diversity, ecological function and biogeochemical processes. (iii) To access the phenotypes of the microbes and through level of gene expression we will identify the potential applications of novel enzyme systems and proteins in biodegradation, bio-catalysis and the biomedical process.

Similarly, development of culture independent DNA technologies has enabled a growing understanding of the true extent of microbial diversity, and has lead to the birth of metagenomics (where a metagenome is defined as the sum of all genomes present in any environment). Metagenomic gene discovery involves a growing catalogue of techniques designed to directly access genes, operons or gene product in complex metagenomic nucleic acid preparation. In doing so, my research group is involved for DNA extraction from environmental samples including soils, sediments, biofilms, and other intractable substrates. This type of molecular surveys will show the genetic and biochemical diversity that lies in uncultured micro-organisms. To address these problems, the following attempts have been made. As follows: (i) DNA extraction from soil and other intractable specimens (ii) DNA methods for detecting diversity within species (iii) Identification and detection of microorganisms (iv) Genetic diversity assessment to track organisms in natural environments (v) Retrieval of protein encoding genes from environmental samples (vi) Investigation of genes or organisms with bio-resource potential (vii) Molecular/evolutionary analysis of protein structure and function. My research group is involved to access these biological resources and express genes as a tool for combinatorial evolution of selected metabolic pathways.