Nature Biotechnology pp 547 - 553

Exotic microorganisms that live in some of the world's most hostile environments could provide a potential treasure trove of enzymes and proteins for use in industry.

In the May issue of Nature Biotechnology, Anke Henne and colleagues report the complete genome sequence of one of these microbes—the bacterium Thermus thermophilus. This heat-loving bug thrives in environments ranging from hot springs to deep-sea hydrothermal vents and feels coziest at temperatures ranging from 60-115°C. Surviving under such conditions, which are reminiscent of the hot-wash setting in a washing machine, requires a collection of robust, heat-resistant enzymes, proteins and other cellular components. These components, in turn, can be of great utility for biotechnological applications at high temperatures, such as starch processing (amylases), molecular biology PCR reactions (polymerases) and as industrial detergents (proteases).

The authors not only identify many new candidate genes within these categories, but also suggest how the genome can provide basic insights into the bacterium's unique adaptations to extreme environments.

Nature Biotechnology pp 560 - 567

Many people spend their time exercising and dieting to get rid of their fat, but stem cells hiding in those extra pounds could soon be used by doctors to heal injuries to tissues like muscle and bone. In the May issue of Nature Biotechnology, Michael Longaker and colleagues show that fat stem cells transplanted into a 4-millimeter skull defect in mice will form new bone and repair the skeletal defect.

Scientists have discovered in recent years that fat stem cells can be coaxed into becoming bone, cartilage, muscle or nerve cells. Now, Longaker and colleagues have demonstrated the therapeutic use of fat stem cells, repairing a bone defect that is too large to heal by itself. The stem cells were induced to become bone cells by seeding them into a scaffold that contained apatite, a chemical that is found naturally in the matrix of bone.

Fat stem cells represent an especially promising source of cells for tissue engineering because there is an abundant supply and the cells divide rapidly in culture.

Nature Biotechnology pp 583 - 588

Plants and their naturally associated bacteria act as a powerful cleaning team for removing toxic chemicals from soil. Many plants contain beneficial bacteria in their roots that help them metabolize nutrients and other chemicals in the soil.

In the May issue of Nature Biotechnology, Daniel van der Lelie and colleagues have upgraded the team of bacteria found in yellow lupine plants so that they can clean up toluene, a common chemical solvent found in many household products that is often found in the environment as a persistent contaminant. To improve the existing teamwork between yellow lupine and its naturally occurring associate, the bacterium Burkholderia cepacia, the authors transferred the machinery to degrade toluene from a related bacterium to the lupine's Burkholderia and then inoculated the plant with the improved bacteria. The improved plants exhibited a marked increase in their toluene decontaminating power. In addition, and unlike other plant-associated bacteria, Burkholderia lives inside the lupine, a characteristic that facilitates not only the implementation of a toluene-decontaminating capability, but also the more efficient degradation of toluene into non-toxic compounds, which are then released by the plants via their leaves.