MetaBiopOR - Bioprospecting of oil reservoir metagenomes for novel thermostable biocatalysts of industrial relevance

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The National Strategy for Marine Bioprospecting 2010 has highlighted bioprospecting of Norwegian oil reservoirs as relevant for marine bioprospecting. In response to that, the proposed project aims at utilizing our exclusive access to an existing collecti on of unique metagenomic DNA samples and DNA sequence data derived from the HEIDRUN oil reservoir on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. On that basis, we will develop and implement innovative and optimized generic methods to efficiently handle and functiona lly access oil reservoir derived metagenomic DNA, applicable in subsequent searches for novel thermostable biocatalysts of relevance for the Norwegian industry. In the proposed project, we will apply both functional screening of comprehensive metagenomic DNA libraries and DNA sequence data mining of the HEIDRUN metagenomic DNA sequence data pool to identify novel members of specifically two classes of enzymes with a high potential for an implementation in future industrial bioprocesses: (i) novel thermost able lipases with a broad industrial application spectrum e.g. in biofuel production processes, and (ii) novel thermostable carbonic anhydrases with potential applications in biocatalyst-assisted CO2 capture and storage processes. From initial sequence da ta mining experiments, we already have strong evidence for the presence of respective biocatalytic functions encoded in the metagenomic DNA from the HEIDRUN oil field, and we are now planning to move forward and extract these functions for an in depth cha racterization. Novel biocatalysts identified by our approach will be recombinantly produced and subsequently characterized with respect to their biochemical and biophysical properties (e.g. thermo- and solvent stability, substrate spectrum, mode of functi on). This analysis will be the basis for the subsequent evaluation of their potential in future industrial bioprocesses.