Bioprospecting for drug and enzymes discovery from Antarctic and Arctic sub-sea sediments.

The aim of this project is to discovery new biocatalysts and drugs starting from Antarctic and Arctic sediment samples. To achieve the above aim several expertise in different research fields are required, and the proposed project will represent a necessa ry instrument to coordinate/integrate the Italian and Norwegian research teams. The deliverables expected from the proposed scientific activities can be summarized as follows: - Improved protocols and methods for the efficient construction of metagenom ics libraries - novel procedures for functional screenings of metagenomics libraries - isolation of genes encoding novel cold-adapted biocatalysts and antibiotics resistance - recombinant production of natural/in vitro engineered cold-adapted enzymes - implementation of selected enzymes into white biotechnology bioprocesses and clean industrial bio-processing - investigation of the microbial composition and diversity of Antarctic and Arctic environments by the bio-informatics analysis of metagenomics d ata