Dr. Reeve has recently gained access, through a NATO sponsored collaboration with Professor K. O. Stetter in Germany, to an archaebacterium that is hyperthermophilic (grows only within the temperature range of 90 to 115 degrees Centigrade). These bacteria grow at the highest temperatures known for a living organism, and it is impossible to carry out genetic approaches to understanding how the bacterium can grow at these temperatures using current genetic techniques. Genes from the hyperthermophile AV19 will be cloned into Escherichia coli, where it may be possible to determine their function and DNA sequences. If preliminary experiments are successful under this Small Grant for Exploratory Research they will open up a major field of study that would be more appropriate for a larger award.
