Success Stories
Microbial Diversity for Novel Biotechnology Applications(21/37) Extremophilic microorganisms are adapted to survive in such ecological niches as high and low temperatures, extremes of pH, high salt concentrations, high pressure, etc. Because these extremophiles produce unique biocatalysts, there is commercial interest in bioprospecting for extremophiles with potential immediate use in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries and in environmental biotechnology.
The Republic of Georgia is characterized by extreme soil-climatic diversity within a small geographical area. Taking advantage of this concentration of ecological extremes, STCU Partner Project P196a (financed by the U.S. Department of Energy Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention Program) teams Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California and a U.S. industry partner with the Durmishidze Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology in Tbilisi to collect, isolate, analysis, and develop a culture collection of extremophilic microorganisms from the southern Caucasus Mountains and other environmental sites in Georgia.