A few other extremophiles, mainly the types that can survive in hot springs, have already been sequenced. The micro-organism was found to have more than 2,500 putative genes, about a third of which are novel and have never previously been reported. There is a tremendous genetic resource in the genomes of micro-organisms. In fact, it is one of the last, largely untapped, natural resources on our planet. Harnessing nature One such application is in the field of biotechnology, said Professor Michael Danson, director of the Centre for Extremophile Research at the University of Bath, UK, where some of the work was carried out.
Most technological processes are very harsh.
One way to resolve that potential problem is to go to biological material which is naturally very stable, from organisms that grow in very harsh or extreme environments. The big power of these extremophiles is that they have components which should be naturally suited to use in biotechnology. Bill Grant, Professor of Environmental Microbiology at Leicester University, UK, said the genome sequence of Halobacterium will enable researchers to work out strategies that might allow other organisms to live in high-salt environments. By looking at an organism like this that has the capacity to survive under these conditions you might be able engineer in mechanisms so that rice would grow under much saltier conditions than it can do at the moment. The new gene sequence will also be of use to scientists who are investigating whether extremophiles could have colonised space.