The participants of the expedition of the Arctic Floating University (APU-2024) began researching the microorganisms of the Arctic archipelagos. The task of scientists is to find enzymes that destroy cellulose and other plant polysaccharides at low temperatures. This was told by a TASS correspondent who is on board the research vessel “Professor Malchanov”.
Landings have already taken place on Franz Josef Land’s Northbrook and Mabel Islands, as well as on New Land’s Bogotá Island. As Ksenia Mayorova, a fourth-year student of the Northern Arctic Federal University (SAFU) in the field of “Industrial Biotechnology”, said, specialists are currently searching for microorganisms that produce plant polysaccharides. The collected samples are checked for enzyme activity or microorganisms that produce it using the express method. Samples that have shown activity are sown in a special medium to grow bacterial colonies. By the appearance of the colonies, it is possible to understand in advance what kind of microorganisms they are, but the exact definition will be given already in the laboratory on the shore.
In the harsh climatic conditions of the Arctic, you can find microorganisms that are able to produce enzymes at very low temperatures. The research results of the APU expedition may be useful in industry. According to the words Ksenia Mayorova, psychrophilic microorganisms are often used to save energy – they can be heated less, while the enzymes continue to work. These enzymes may also find application in the production of animal feed. They will destroy the cell walls in advance, thereby increasing the nutritional value of the feed. Animals will get more nutrients from the same amount of grass.
APU-2024 left Arkhangelsk on June 25 to conduct research in the White and Barents seas, on the islands of Kalguev, Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land.