Psychrophilic essential genes

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This proposal describes a research program that combines the study of the biology of psychrophilic (cold-loving) bacteria with the discovery of variants of essential genes that can be used to engineer microbes used in medicine and industry. Bacteria that live in constantly cold environments, such as the Arctic, are usually killed at moderate (10-30°C) temperatures. This phenomenon is presumably due to the inactivation of an essential protein that is needed for viability. In this application we propose experiments to test if this presumption is true. As well, we build on our recent work in isolating essential genes from Arctic bacteria. By studying the properties of the proteins that these genes encode we hope to learn why Arctic bacteria die at low temperatures, and to determine if the mechanism of bacterial death is different among different bacterial species. This basic research has practical applications, especially in engineering disease causing bacteria into safe forms.