Master's degree on industrial enzymes from extremophiles

Kjetil Dale did his work on transketolase enzymes from the thermophilic bacterium Thermovirga lienii, previously isolated from a deep and hot oil well in the North Sea. Kjetil performed cloning, protein purification and enzyme analyses, including 3-dimensional structure determination using X-ray crystallography. Thermostable transketolases have a large biotechnological potential, as they catalyze the transfer of two-carbon groups between organic molecules in a stereo-specific manner. The work was conducted within the framework of the ERA-IB Industrial Biotechnology project THERMOGENE - Novel thermostable enzymes for industrial biotechnology.