BioEnergy. Wind & Solar. Hot springs microbe yields record-breaking, heat-tolerant enzyme. Public release date: 5-Jul-2011 [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Robert Sandersrsanders@berkeley.edu 510-643-6998University of California - Berkeley Bioprospectors from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found a microbe in a Nevada hot spring that happily eats plant material – cellulose – at temperatures near the boiling point of water. In fact, the microbe's cellulose-digesting enzyme, called a cellulase, is most active at a record 109 degrees Celsius (228 degrees Fahrenheit), significantly above the 100oC (212oF) boiling point of water. This so-called hyperthermophilic microbe, discovered in a 95oC (203oF) geothermal pool, is only the second member of the ancient group Archaea known to grow by digesting cellulose above 80˚C. "These are the most thermophilic Archaea discovered that will grow on cellulose and the most thermophilic cellulase in any organism," said coauthor Douglas S.
. [ Print | E-mail. Fusion Experiment Faces New Hurdles.
Teen Builds Nuclear Reactor. Free energy ? Water Engine - Untold Misteries. Wind power. Solar. Thermoelectric Power Generation On Wood Stove.