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Purple extremist thrives under inhospitable conditions
Date:6/25/2008

quire mild environmental conditions. "The Ferroplasma DNA ligase is unique," states Olga Golyshina: "It actually requires extremely acidic conditions to work."

Iron gives the protein a purple colour

But this is not the only thing that scientists find surprising about this survival expert: "All of the DNA ligases studied so far do not contain iron, but require magnesium or potassium to function. Extraordinarily, the DNA ligase of Ferroplasma contains iron and does not need either magnesium or potassium. The iron is essential: removal results in loss of activity and, interestingly, its wonderful purple coloration."However, the colour is less fascinating than the fact that Ferroplasma does not die as a result of the ordinarily toxic high concentration of iron in its cells which would severely damage genetic material in other cells, triggering mutations.

"The fact that an enzyme contains metal ions that damage DNA for the repair of DNA seems contradictory," says project partner Prof. Peter Golyshin, who works at the HZI and Bangor University in Wales (GB). He suspects that the Ferroplasma genus occupied its ecological niche early in evolution. At that time the earth was very inhospitable; acids and metals in soluble form were everywhere. Peter Golyshin: "Maybe the ancestors of Ferroplasma integrated these substances into their metabolism. And afterwards they never left its environment, even as this became increasingly scarce on earth."

Prof. Ken Timmis, Head of the Environmental Microbiology Group at HZI, is considering the future uses of the findings of the team: "Enzymes are required for many biotechnological applications. The chemical conditions under which these processes occur are often rather hostile. Enzymes from Ferroplasma, such as DNA ligase, clearly are ideally suited for processes that require hostile conditions, so this microbe may represent a rich source of biological catalysts not thus far obtainable from any ot
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Contact: Hannes Schlender
hannes.schlender@helmholtz-hzi.de
49-531-618-11400
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Source:Eurekalert  

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Purple extremist thrives under inhospitable conditions
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