Constructing and Screening a Metagenomic Library of a Cold and Alkaline Extreme Environment

• Published in: Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) Vol. 1539; p. 43
• Main Authors: Glaring, Mikkel A, Vester, Jan K, Stougaard, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-01-2017
• Subjects: Environmental Microbiology; Escherichia coli - genetics; Extreme Environments; Gene Library; Genetic Vectors; Greenland; Metagenome; Metagenomics - methods; Extremophilic enzymes; Biotechnology; Cell extraction; Metagenome; Function-based screen; Extreme environments
• ISSN: 1940-6029
• DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6691-2_4

Natural cold or alkaline environments are common on Earth. A rare combination of these two extremes is found in the permanently cold (less than 6 °C) and alkaline (pH above 10) ikaite columns in the Ikka Fjord in Southern Greenland. Bioprospecting efforts have established the ikaite columns as a source of bacteria and enzymes adapted to these conditions. They have also highlighted the limitations of cultivation-based methods in this extreme environment and metagenomic approaches may provide access to novel extremophilic enzymes from the uncultured majority of bacteria. Here, we describe the construction and screening of a metagenomic library of the prokaryotic community inhabiting the ikaite columns.