• For German
    research organisations
  • Research landscape
  • News and research areas
  • Your goal
  • Our service
Why Germany
  • R&D policy framework
  • Research infrastructure
  • Research funding system
Universities
  • Universities of applied sciences
Research institutes
  • Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
  • Helmholtz Association
  • Leibniz Association
  • Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
  • Academies of sciences and humanities
  • Federal institutions
  • Länder institutions
  • Research infrastructure
  • Industrial research
Industrial research
Top universities
Research News
Latest Thinking – Making research visible
Global Health
Bioeconomy
InnoHealth
EnergInno
Future of Work
COVID-19 in Germany
Cancer Research
Bachelor or master
PhD
  • Good reasons
  • Two ways to get your PhD
  • Find your PhD position
  • How to apply for a PhD
  • Funding programmes
  • Funding organisations
  • Funding databases
  • Job portals
Postdoc
  • Good reasons
  • Career options & dual careers
  • Funding programmes
  • Funding organisations
  • Funding databases
  • Job portals
Advanced research
  • Good reasons
  • Career options & dual careers
  • Funding & awards
  • Funding organisations
  • Funding databases
  • Job portals
Research Position
  • Find a job
  • Potential employers
  • Research fields
Events & online talks
  • Events
  • Online talks
  • Innovation Week
Research news
Newsletter
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletter 2022
  • Newsletter 2021
Our publications
Success stories
Link to German Institutions research organisations
  • Research landscape
    • Overview Research landscape
    • Why Germany
      • Overview Why Germany
      • R&D policy framework
      • Research infrastructure
        • Overview Research infrastructure
        • DESY – Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
        • DKRZ – German Climate Computing Centre
        • Research vessel Polarstern
        • FLASH – free-electron laser in Hamburg
      • Research funding system
        • Overview Research funding system
        • Government funding
        • How does government funding work?
    • Universities
      • Overview Universities
      • Universities of applied sciences
    • Research institutes
      • Overview Research institutes
      • Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
      • Helmholtz Association
      • Leibniz Association
      • Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
      • Academies of sciences and humanities
      • Federal institutions
      • Länder institutions
      • Research infrastructure
      • Industrial research
    • Industrial research
    • Top universities
  • News and research areas
    • Overview News and research areas
    • Research News
    • Latest Thinking – Making research visible
    • Global Health
    • Bioeconomy
    • InnoHealth
    • EnergInno
    • Future of Work
    • COVID-19 in Germany
    • Cancer Research
  • Your goal
    • Overview Your goal
    • Bachelor or master
    • PhD
      • Overview PhD
      • Good reasons
      • Two ways to get your PhD
      • Find your PhD position
      • How to apply for a PhD
      • Funding programmes
      • Funding organisations
      • Funding databases
      • Job portals
    • Postdoc
      • Overview Postdoc
      • Good reasons
      • Career options & dual careers
        • Overview Career options & dual careers
        • Professorship
        • Postdoc positions
        • Junior research group leader
        • Researcher in industry
        • Research stays and visits
        • International collaborations
        • Dual careers
      • Funding programmes
      • Funding organisations
      • Funding databases
      • Job portals
    • Advanced research
      • Overview Advanced research
      • Good reasons
      • Career options & dual careers
        • Overview Career options & dual careers
        • Professorship
        • Visiting professorship & visiting lectureship
        • Leading a research group
        • Researcher in a company
        • Research stays and visits
        • International collaborations
        • Dual careers
      • Funding & awards
      • Funding organisations
      • Funding databases
      • Job portals
    • Research Position
      • Overview Research Position
      • Find a job
      • Potential employers
      • Research fields
        • Overview Research fields
        • Agriculture
        • Architecture
        • Earth Sciences
        • Engineering
        • Forestry
        • Law
        • Logistics
        • Pharmacy
  • Our service
    • Overview Our service
    • Events & online talks
      • Overview Events & online talks
      • Events
      • Online talks
        • Overview Online talks
        • Planning your research career in germany
        • The DAAD PRIME fellowship
        • Meet the Helmholtz Association
        • Learn more about the new Erasmus+ programme for PhD students
        • Interdisciplinary research
        • Global health research
        • Digital learning
        • Meet the German Research Foundation
        • Meet the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
        • Ask a professor
        • Postdoctoral Opportunities in Germany
        • Doctorate Opportunities in Germany
        • The German research landscape
        • Doing research in humanities
        • Women in science
        • Departmental research
        • Online talk: bioeconomy
        • Research opportunities for Indian scholars
        • Universities of Applied Sciences
        • German research clusters
        • Scientific start-ups in Germany
        • Artificial intelligence
        • Online talks for science administrators
        • Future of work
        • How is a research group structured?
        • How to do research in industry
        • Learn from first-hand experience!
        • Funding your research stay
        • Registration Process and Technical Requirements
      • Innovation Week
    • Research news
    • Newsletter
      • Overview Newsletter
      • Subscribe
      • Newsletter 2022
        • Overview Newsletter 2022
        • February 2022
        • June 2022
      • Newsletter 2021
        • Overview Newsletter 2021
        • December 2021
        • October 2021
        • August 2021
        • June 2021
        • April 2021
        • February 2021
    • Our publications
    • Success stories
  1. Home
  2. News & Research Areas
  3. Bioeconomy

Extremophiles for the biologisation of industry

Discovering extremophilic microorganisms

An article by Professor Garabed Antranikian from the Institute of Technical Microbiology at Hamburg University of Technology.

© Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung

Extremophiles are organisms that thrive under conditions that are regarded as hostile to humans. Such environments and habitats include hot springs with temperatures close to the boiling point of water, and the deep sea, where low temperatures are coupled with high water pressure. “Extreme” conditions may also mean excessive pH or salt content levels. Robust biocatalysts (enzymes) and microorganisms with unique and extraordinary properties, such as the ability to operate at temperatures of up to 130 °C or an extreme acidic pH level of 0, can therefore be used efficiently for applications in sustainable bioprocesses. Current bioinformatic approaches (genomics and metagenomics) and high-throughput screening methods (robotics) are used in intelligent screening strategies aimed at discovering and identifying novel industrial enzymes.

Transitioning to a sustainable circular bioeconomy requires cutting-edge technologies that will guarantee economic growth and eco-friendly trade. It will only be possible to switch from a fossil-based to a biological process if we take advantage of the opportunities to discover and use our planet’s microbial diversity in the aforementioned extreme habitats.

Use of robust catalytic processes

Making unusual biological systems available will contribute to resolving global challenges such as the use of natural resources, the supply of food, health, energy and the environment. Microorganisms that can survive under extreme conditions constitute a biotechnological treasure trove for efficient bioprocesses. This is because they manufacture a broad range of unique biocatalysts (extremozymes) that are active at extreme temperatures, pH levels, high salt content and solvent concentrations. This allows biomass, e.g. plants, to be effectively converted by enzymes into high-quality products such as basic chemicals, biomaterials, pharmaceuticals, foods, animal feed and biofuels, resulting in the development of a more environmentally friendly biobased industry.

Enzymes that break down carbohydrates can be of great interest when it comes to producing biofuels and chemicals at high temperatures. Second-generation biofuels are made in biorefineries using lignocellulosic materials such as agricultural or forestry residues. The biomass needs to be pretreated on account of the complex structure of the plant cell walls, which makes the polysaccharides (carbohydrates consisting of several sugar molecules bonded together) accessible for the enzymatic effect. Thermal pretreatment has the advantage of allowing thermally active enzymes to be used to break down any available polymers at the same time. Another well-known example of thermally active enzymes is the DNA polymerase, which is used in laboratories to copy and reproduce DNA through polymerase chain reaction (PCR), e.g. for the diagnosis of hereditary diseases. The discovery of this extremozyme has enormously accelerated the development of the life sciences.

© Lina Nguyen

Vita

Professor Garabed Antranikian studied biology at the American University of Beirut, obtained his PhD at the University of Göttingen and qualified as a professor in 1988 in the field of microbiology in Professor Gerhard Gottschalk’s working group. He has run the Institute of Technical Microbiology at Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) since 1990. His research focuses on extremophilic microorganisms and their technical application. He was awarded the German Environmental Award of the German Federal Environmental Foundation in 2004 and was president of the TUHH from 2011 to 2018.

More information

  • Website of the Center for Biobased Solutions

Get updates! If you want to stay informed, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, WeChat, YouTube or via RSS and subscribe to our newsletter.

Publisher BMBF Website
Editor DAAD Website
  • Contact us
  • About us
  • Imprint
  • Data protection