Fungi from Antarctic soil: prospecting of enzymes with industrial interest and taxonomic characterization

Abstract

Extreme environments such as Antarctica are potential sources to the discovery of new natural products from microbial origin with specific properties for biotechnological application, because of the lack of knowledge about diversity and genetic resources of the microorganisms that inhabit these places. Previous studies related to the prospecting of microorganisms from the Antarctic environment have shown the potential for the production of cold-active enzymes with application in several sector of economic importance. Thus, the current project aims to investigate the production of enzymes (protease and L-asparaginase) by filamentous fungi and yeasts isolated from different soil samples, as well as knowing and comparing the yeast diversity between the studied samples. For that, we will use the filamentous fungi (n=119) and yeast (n=147) isolated from soil samples collected in the Nov/Dec 2013 Antarctic expedition in the extent of INCT Criosfera project, which are being maintained in the research collection associated to the UNESP Central of Microbial Resources (CRM-UNESP). The current project could result in the achievement of bioproduct or patent related to the production of enzymes with industrial interest, including the pharmaceutical sector, as well as allow the enlargement of the knowledge about the diversity of Antarctic yeasts. (AU)