Research and Utilization of Deep-sea Microorganisms

Enantioselective Utilization of D-Amino Acids by Deep-Sea Microorganisms

Microorganisms that utilize various D-amino acids (DAAs) were successfully isolated from deep-sea sediments. The isolates were phylogenetically assigned to Alphaproteobacteria, Gammmaproteobacteria, and Bacilli. Some of the isolates exhibited high enantioselective degradation activities to various DAAs. In particular, the Alphaproteobacteria Nautella sp. strain A04V exhibited robust growth in m...

Enzymes from Deep-sea Microorganisms

Enzymes from Deep-sea Microorganisms

Deep-sea microorganisms and the origin of the eukaryotic cell

Living cells are deeply divided into two enormously divergent levels of complexity: prokaryotic and eukaryotic. Eukaryotes are thought to have developed from prokaryotic predecessors; however the large differences in their cellular structures results in equally large questions of how the process might have occurred. In 2012, in the deep-sea off the coast of Japan, we discovered a unique microor...

Microorganisms as food resources at deep-sea hydrothermal vents

We used stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to examine the diversity of microbial populations consumed as foods at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Invertebrate consumers at Gorda and Juan de Fuca Ridge vent sites had variable carbon isotope compositions, implying the use of more than one microbial food resource. 6’C values for consumer invertebrates at Gorda ranged between 13.2% (polynoid polyc...