A group led by the Japan Institute of Marine and Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) has studied the structure of enzymes isolated from a Calyptogena strain living at about 11.000 m depth in the Mariana trench. Using isopropyl malate dehydrogenase isolated from a deep sea microorganism and comparing to a standard enzyme from Shewanella oneidensis, based on x-ray analysis of the pressurized enzymes, it turned out that the mobility of water molecules near the active site could be a key to explain the activity of the barophilic enzyme under extreme pressure
JSBBA Sapporo, Poster 2D10, March 28, 2016
JAMSTEC researchers study structural basis for enzyme stability of barophilic microorganisms