The Santorini Volcanic Complex as a Valuable Source of Enzymes for Bioenergy
Marine microbial communities are an untapped reservoir of genetic and metabolic diversity and a valuable source for the discovery of new natural products of biotechnological interest. The conditions in these environments, i.e., high temperatures, low pH values and high concentration of heavy metals, often resemble harsh industrial settings. Thus, these environments may serve as pools of enzymes of enhanced catalytic properties that may provide benefits to biotechnology. Here, we screened 11 metagenomic libraries previously constructed from microbial mat samples covering the seafloor and the polymetallic chimneys of Kolumbo volcano as well as mat samples from Santorini caldera, to mine, in silico, genes associated with bioenergy applications.
