Extremophilic microorganisms often have special properties and also special metabolic pathways due to the cellular mechanisms necessary for their natural environment. These metabolic pathways include, among other things, the ability to use unusual carbon sources and to produce various end products therefrom. These products are of interest for many applications, including pharmaceutical applications. Products are for example various polyunsaturated fatty acids and also pigments. The cultivation of these organisms is possible with the equipment available at the IMC FH Krems and through international contacts to the TU Bratislava or the Sultan Quaboos University in Oman, there are possibilities to preserve the organisms or to use the methods of analysis and to bring them to Krems in the long term. Identified substances can then be tested for bioactivity using the cellular test systems developed in-house.
The project is funded by the Province Lower Austria (Department Science and Research) under the technology fund programme ATHENOE.
