Genetic engineering of sulfur-degrading Sulfolobus

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5359086

Ho, N W.Y. ^[1]

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1. Purdue Univ., Lafayette, IN (United States). Lab. of Renewable Resources Engineering

An effective microbial process would be economical for the removal or organic sulfur and the finely dispersed inorganic sulfur in coal, particularly the former. However, some microoganisms may have the enzymes to degrade organic sulfur but themselves are not suitable to be cultured under the conditions best for coal desulfurization. On the other hand, some microorganisms can grow very well under the conditions most suitable for coal desulfurization but do not contain the enzymes most suitable for coal desulfurization. We believe that we can adopt a new approach to solve this problem. In this approach, a microorganism that can grow vigorously under the conditions most suitable for coal desulfurization will be chosen as the host for actively carrying out the desulfurization process. An effective gene cloning system is expected to be established for the chosen species so that heterologous and homologous genes encoding most of the effective enzymes for coal desulfurization can be cloned on the highly copy-number plasmid or plasmid-like molecules. Species of Sulfolobus are microorganisms that can be actively cultured under the condition most favorable for coal desulfurization. In particular, one of the Sulfolobus species, S. shibatae B12, contains a double-stranded DNA virus which might be easily converted into a gene cloning system. The objective of this project is to develop an effective gene cloning system for some of the Sulfolobus species. During the first two quarters of this year, we have shown that gene cloning systems might be able to be established for at least two of the Sulfolobus species; S. acidocaldarius and S. shibatae B12. In this quarter, we report on: (1) The construction of potential cloning vectors for the transformation of both S. acidocaldarius and S. shibatae B12; (2) the isolation of promoters from S. Shibatae and S. acidocaldarius, which can also function as promoters in E. coli.

• Research Organization: Illinois Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources, Springfield, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG22-90PC90176
• OSTI ID: 5359086
• Report Number(s): DOE/PC/90176-T40; ON: DE91018304
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
COAL
DESULFURIZATION
GENES
CLONING
BIODEGRADATION
DNA
ENZYMES
ESCHERICHIA COLI
PLASMIDS
PROGRESS REPORT
BACTERIA
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CELL CONSTITUENTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
DOCUMENT TYPES
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MATERIALS
MICROORGANISMS
NUCLEIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
010402* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Purification & Upgrading
550700 - Microbiology
550400 - Genetics