Prospecting for biocatalysts and drugs in the genomes of non-cultured microorganisms.
Modern biotechnology has a steadily increasing demand for vitamins, antibiotics and, in particular, novel biocatalysts for use in the production of flavors, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and high-value fine chemicals. Novel experimental approaches are being developed in attempts to identify such molecules. However, it is known that up to 99.8% of the microbes present in many environments are not readily culturable; hence, they cannot be exploited for biotechnology. The 'metagenome technology' offers a solution to this problem by developing culture-independent methods to isolate, clone and express environmental DNA. So far, metagenome-based approaches have led to the isolation of many novel biocatalysts and a variety of other molecules with a high potential for downstream applications.
Institut für Mikrobiologie und Genetik, Universität Göttingen, Grisebachstrasse 8, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany. wstreit@gwdg.de
Wolfgang R
WR
Streit
Rolf
R
Daniel
Karl-Erich
KE
Jaeger
D002384:Catalysis; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D015195:Drug Design; D004798:Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000502:physiology; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods
D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004798:Enzymes