Bacteria from extreme environments: basis for new technical applications

The Molecular Microbiological Group at the Institute of Radiochemistry, Research Centre Rossendorf nearby Dresden, performs as part of an institute from the Wissenschaftsgemein-schaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz e.V. basic and applied research. Main interests are

• bacterial diversity of soil and water

samples highly contaminated with radionuclides and heavy-metals

• investigation and characterization of

metal-microbe interactions

• development of novel bacteria-based bioremediation strategies for cleaning contaminated wastewater
• use of bacteria or bacterial components as biotemplates for the formation of nanoclusters for biotechnological applications

Bacteria consist of only one single cell, but apart from their simple organisation and their small size they are an unbelievable complex and highly efficient group of creatures. Some bacteria are able to thrive at the most forbidding, uninviting places on Earth: they live in hot springs, in extremely alkaline or acid waters, in muds of marshes or even at the bottom of the ocean. For production of energy they can use different kinds of organic and inorganic matter or sun light. Against this background, investigation of bacteria recovered from extreme environments shows a great promise to discover novel and yet unknown properties of this interesting group of organisms.