Functional genomics of a hyperthermophile from the third kingdom of life

Life on Earth is divided into 3 main evolutionary lineages: the bacteria, the eukaryotes and the archaea. This project concerns a functional genomics analyses of an organism from the third kingdom of life, the Archaea. The organism, Sulfolobus solfataricus, is a thermoacidophile that grows optimally at 80C and pH 3 (i.e. in hot acid). The complete genome has recently been sequenced, and the student will join a newly initiated project in which this information is used to construct whole-genome microarrays. The arrays will be used to screen for gene products involved in replication, genome segregation, cell division, stationary phase survival, stress responses, and in catabolism of different carbon sources. All gene products from this extremophilic organism are intrinsically heat-stable, and the identified proteins will therefore be of great interest both for basic science and for applied purposes.
Additional information about our work and interests is available at:
http://web1.ebc.uu.se/molev/staff/rolf/archaea.html