Dr. Robert Kelly, Alcoa Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State and the principal investigator for the grant, will work with colleagues from the University of Connecticut and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to learn more about how thermotogales consume sugars and produce hydrogen in such efficient ways.

These organisms produce copious amounts of hydrogen as a waste product of their metabolism, even though hydrogen ultimately inhibits their growth. We’d like to learn more about the connection between sugar consumption and hydrogen yields and how to take advantage of their unique bioenergetics at high temperatures.

—Robert Kelly

Although virtually all members of the Thermotoga order had earlier been reported to be anaerobes, more recent work suggests that most of them can tolerate low levels of oxygen (microaerobes).

A number of recent large-scale genomics and structural genomics projects, as well as individual research groups, have studied Thermotoga maritima. In July 2007, the Joint Center for Structural Genomics (JCSG)—which brings together researchers from The Scripps Research Institute, Genomic Research Foundation, Stanford University, Burnham Institute for Medical Research and UC San Diego—hosted a two-day interdisciplinary workshop on thermotoga (Thermotoga 2007). At that event, Kelly presented on functional genomics studies of carbohydrate utilization and production in Thermotoga maritima.

Kelly, who has worked with a number of different thermophile organisms over the past 25 years, is also interested in organisms that efficiently break down cellulose to produce sugars that can be fermented into ethanol. One of the current areas of interest is how different microorganisms from high temperature environments coexist and at the same time produce enzymes or byproducts, such as hydrogen, for biofuels applications.

Resources

• Thermotoga 2007 Workshop Proceedings