title: Industrial relevance of thermophilic Archaea.
abstract: The dramatic increase of newly isolated extremophilic microorganisms, analysis of their genomes and investigations of their enzymes by academic and industrial laboratories demonstrate the great potential of extremophiles in industrial (white) biotechnology. Enzymes derived from extremophiles (extremozymes) are superior to the traditional catalysts because they can perform industrial processes even under harsh conditions, under which conventional proteins are completely denatured. In particular, enzymes from thermophilic and hyperthermophilic Archaea have industrial relevance. Despite intensive investigations, our knowledge of the structure-function relationships of their enzymes is still limited. Information concerning the molecular properties of their enzymes and genes has to be obtained to be able to understand the mechanisms that are responsible for catalytic activity and stability at the boiling point of water.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Technical Microbiology, Hamburg University of Technology, Kasernenstr. 12, 21073 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Ksenia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Egorova
authors.forename: Garabed
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Antranikian
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000201:enzymology*; D019843:Archaeal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D004795:Enzyme Stability; D004798:Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006358:Hot Temperature
chemical_list: D019843:Archaeal Proteins; D004798:Enzymes