August 1, 2000

'X GAMES' OF SCIENCE TO OPEN IN KAMCHATKA

BALTIMORE, Md.-From August 6-12, a multi-national team of microbiologists will explore Siberian volcanoes, geysers and sulfur pits in search of "extremophile" microbes of both ancient origins and high-dollar potential in biotechnology, says team co-leader Frank T. Robb of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI).

The team will explore the fire-and-icy terrain of the Kamchatka peninsula for radiation-resistant microbes that may join on-going NASA/UMBI experiments to expose the microbes to naked sun radiation aboard a space shuttle, says Robb. The explorers will also look for microbes that live in and Aeat@ heavy metals in the soil. The goal is to recruit such organisms for bio-remediation--clean up of toxic pollution in soils. The team will also further explore for microbes that grow exclusively on carbon monoxide and produce hydrogen.

Kamchatka is a 182,000-square-mile section of the Pacific ring of fire. Along a 500-mile volcanic ridge, there have been many eruptions in recent years. Smaller, steamy natural Apots" heave mineral-rich deposits from the Earth. Primeval forests of mixed evergreens and leafy trees dominate cooler parts of the region and vast expanses of tundra are frozen for most of the year.

The one-celled, Spartan life forms that brave boiling water, high-radiation soils and heavy metals survive on odd, sometimes barebones DNA systems. Such molecular survival strategies--some surely of ancient origins-could urge the researchers to spawn new theories of the evolution on Earth and on other planets.

The strange genetics of extremophiles could also be useful in building new biotech tools of medicine, agriculture and other industries. Buoyed by just a few highly profitable, commercial products so far, genetic engineers are learning how to harness DNA-driven enzymes and protein systems within extremophiles that have been discovered in such diverse places as Kamchatka; Yellowstone, Wyoming; Antarctica, Costa Rico, and hot volcanic vents that bubble and surge from ocean floors around the globe.

The 2000 exploration will build on and improve upon findings in 1995 by a 35-person exploration/workshop in Kamchatka co-organized by UMBI's Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB) and partners. In 1995, the highlight was discovery of high-temperature bugs that digest and breakdown radiation, uranium and iron in the soil. Such microbes are a high priority to member nations of NATO for bioremediation of toxic spills in Europe and Asia.

Each day, the team will hire helicopters (the only option) to go to sites in the wilderness that are too remote for tourists. Destinations include the Uzon volcano caldera, the Geysers Valley, and hydrothermal fields of the Mutnovka volcano. They will also hire local consultants, teachers and writers, who frequently Amoonlight@ as explorers in Kamchatka. "They provide tremendous local knowledge and skills in surveying," says Robb. The team will also be accompanied by expert game rangers, Asort of like the park rangers in our country,"adds Robb.

Sometimes, the hunt will be dangerous, especially near hot, acidic pools, he says. The acid eats away rock crust around a pool. Such thermal pools are often beautiful--the gold-yellow sulfur deposits with blue-green from bacterial outcropping--but hazardous if surface crusts become too thin for walking. Other pools are pitch black and filled with boiling water, edges often hurling chunks of dark sand skyward.

Routinely, the researchers will scoop up samples for preliminary analysis in a makeshift laboratory at a country inn where they will be staying. Eventually the scientists will take millions of microbes back to COMB and other research centers.

Although the science of extremophiles is young, so far such microbes or their enzymes have been used to help manufacture beer, medicines, paper products, inexpensive cattle feed, plastics, paints, adhesives and myriad applications in medical biotechnology. Thermus aquaticus, a bacterium that was isolated from a boiling pool in Yellowstone National Park produces a high temperature protein used everyday in biotech and hospital laboratories. The protein, Taq polymerase, helps bacteria reproduce its DNA and is thus perfect for a procedure called the polymerase chain reaction. PCR is a laboratory tool for detecting bits of an organism, then cranking out millions of copies of some of its DNA. It is part of the diagnosis of illnesses such as AIDS or hepatitis and crime-solving laboratories. Other industries use high salt-tolerant extremolphiles or halophiles that have led to many advances in chemical purification, pharmaceuticals, and in the process of drilling and recovering oil in the ground. Still another bacteria, living in soda lakes, have yielded an enzyme for manufacturers of cleaning products that can gently remove the microscopic dirt in clothing.

At COMB in Baltimore, Md., researchers can only understand such life in inhospitable environments with the aid of highly sensitive gene?sequencing techniques and anaerobic fermenting techniques to grow out microorganisms.