[Keratinase of an anaerobic thermophilic bacterium Thermoanaerobacter sp. strain 1004-09 isolated from a hot spring in the Baikal Rift zone].

A thermophilic anaerobic bacterial strain 1004-09 belonging to the genus Thermoanaerobacter and capable of growth on protein substrates such as albumin, gelatin, casein, and alpha and beta-keratins was isolated from the Urinskii hot spring (Barguzin river valley, Republic of Buryatia, Russia). A 150-kDa serine proteinase was revealed in the strain supernatant; it exhibited optimal activity at 60 degrees C and pH 9.3 and was capable of keratin hydrolysis.

[The thermophilic bacteria hydrolyzing agar: characterization of thermostable agarase].

Three strains of anaerobic thermophilic bacteria capable of growing on agarose as a source of energy and carbon were isolated from hot springs near Lake Baikal (Barguzin National Park) and the caldera Uzon (Kamchatka). Cells of all the three strains were spore bacilli with peritrichous flagellation. These isolates grew at a temperature of 55-60 degrees C and pH 6.

[Isolation and characteristics of new thermostable DNA ligase from archaea of the genus Thermococcus].

The DNA ligase gene from thermophilic archaea of the genus Thermococcus (strain 1519) was identified and sequenced in the polymerase chain reaction. The recombinant enzyme LigTh1519 was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and characterized. LigTh1519 was capable of ligating the cohesive ends and single-strand breaks in double-stranded DNA (ATP as a cofactor).

[Metabolism of the thermophilic bacterium Oceanithermus profundus].

The metabolism of the novel facultatively anaerobic thermophilic bacterium Oceanithermus profundus was studied during growth on maltose, acetate, pyruvate, and hydrogen. The utilization of carbohydrates was shown to proceed via the glycolytic pathway. Under microaerobic growth conditions, the metabolism of O.