Determine the effect of temperature on hydrothermal bacterial enzymes.

If the microbes of the deep are carrying out life processes, then they are obviously metabolizing; that means that they must have enzymes at work. Up here at the surface, temperature doesn’t vary much, in contrast to the extremes of the vent environment. The hydrothermic bacteria have obviously adapted to a high temperature environment. When subjected to a hot environment, the proteins and enzymes in our cells and similarly, those in the cells of surface microbes, denature and cease to function. This specific temperature dependency hinders production by the cells and also hinders their lives. If we can figure out why the microbes in the depths of the sea can survive and even thrive under these extreme conditions, we can possibly engineer microbes up here to be temperature independent as well, which could help out in pharmaceutical and industrial processes.

The best way to determine the effect of temperature on the hydrothermal bacterial enzymes is to reproduce a hydrothermic environment in the lab, and study the differences between the actions of the enzymes in surface microbes verses their deep-sea counterparts. This study could be done once we have the data from the metabolism experiment. By analyzing how much of each chemical the bacteria metabolizes, we could change the temperature of the experimental setting and test it again and again to create a “map” for enzyme activity in thermophiles.

Margesin R., Schinner F. Biodegradation and bioremediation of hydrocarbons in extreme environments. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 56 (5-6), 650-663.