Extremophile microorganisms - identifying stress tolerance mechanisms and biotechnological potential

Extremophiles are organisms that can live in hostile environments, including at the extremes of pH, metal stress, temperature, salinity, and radiation. These can include eukaryotic microorganisms, such as species of microalgae, as well as prokaryotic extremophiles. Studying these organisms will allow better understanding of the mechanisms of adaptation to extreme environments and details of potentially novel mechanisms of stress tolerance at the cellular and molecular level. There are also many applications and uses of these organisms to industrial biotechnology, including as a source of novel chemicals and metabolites, a source of more efficient processes, such as pollutant bioremediation, and as a novel platform strain for mass cultivation. This project aims to improve our understanding of how eukaryotic extremophiles can tolerate extreme stress conditions, and evaluate potential value products and processes from these organisms. The project will initially make use of microorganisms recently identified from acid mine drainage environments, from municipal wastewater environments, and from radiation contaminated environments. Further screening will also be performed to identify additional organisms using metagenomics identification tools. Candidate strains will be characterised using stress physiology analysis, metabolomics and proteomic tools. The project will provide training in a variety of experimental techniques and disciplines including molecular biology, proteomics and metabolic analysis.