| Two microbial strains designated OGL-7B and OGL-20P, newly isolated from material collected at the Rainbow hydrothermal vent field (Mid-Atlantic Ridge), were assigned a taxonomic position through a phylogenetic analysis based on the sequence of their 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Genes encoding a family A DNA polymerase, a family B DNA polymerase and a PCNA (DNA polymerase sliding clamp) were cloned, sequenced and analyzed. Family B DNA polymerase from OGL-20P was expressed, purified and characterized. It was shown to be extremely effective in PCR applications under a wide range of conditions and could advantageously replace existing commercial enzymes such as Taq polymerase. The genome of archaeal strain OGL-20P was later sequenced and assembled from 128 contigs (sets of overlapping fragments) into 10 scaffolds, which were searched for replicative protein genes using hidden Markov models. |
