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U.S. Department of Energy
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Genetic Engineering of Sulfur-Degrading Sulfolobus

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5922005· OSTI ID:5922005
 [1]
  1. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

Recent studies have shown that some microorganisms can play a significant role in removing the sulfur compounds from coal. Sulfolobus acidocaldarius is one such microorganism. Some microorganisms can remove only organic sulfur from coal, other can remove only inorganic sulfur from coal, but S. acidocaldarius seems to be able to remove both the organic and the inorganic sulfur from coal. Furthermore, S. acidocaldarius has been shown to be able to use the sulfur and carbon derived from coal as its sole carbon and energy source for growth. These properties make this microorganism unique for coal desulfurization. This project is aimed at applying recombinant DNA techniques to improve the capability of S. acidocaldarius for coal desulfurization, which includes making it the host for housing foreign genes that encode the most effective enzymes for coal desulfurization. Since there is no established vectors and procedures for introducing vectors into S. acidocaldarius and related microorganisms, the immediate goal is to establish a gene cloning system for this species. During the present quarter, the authors have studied a few systems which can be used as the potential selection mechanism for the selection of the desired transformants. In addition, they also analyzed the extracellular proteins from S. acidocaldarius as well as other potential organic sulfur removing species and also managed to obtain most strains and plasmids that are needed for this work. Results to date are given.

Research Organization:
Illinois Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources, Springfield, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
FG22-90PC90176
OSTI ID:
5922005
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/90176--T12; ON: DE91010511
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English