Master degree on enzymes from the deep and hot subsurface

Sudeep Karki did his work on three enzymes from the thermophilic bacterium Thermovirga lienii, previously isolated from a deep and hot oil well in the North Sea, as well as from a metagenome from the same origin. Sudeep performed cloning, protein purification and enzyme analyses, including 3-dimensional structure determination using X-ray crystallography. Thermostable sugar aminotransferases have a large biotechnological potential, e.g. for synthesis of enantiopure amino sugars using biocatalysis. The work was conducted within the framework of the ERA-IB Industrial Biotechnology project THERMOGENE - Novel thermostable enzymes for industrial biotechnology.