J. SARADA AND PADMA SRIDHAR
Abstract
A variant strain of Vitreoscilla producing hemoglobin was isolated from the Himalayan region at an altitude of 14,500 ft.,from sea level. Vitreoscilla is a gram negative obligate aerobe, however grows in microaerophlic/hypooxygenic conditions because of the unique nature of hemoglobin it produces. The function of Vitreoscilla hernoglobin(Vtlib)is to facilitate oxygen flux to vigorously respiring membranes during hypoxic conditions. The hemoglobin gene has a number of applications in biotechnology especially in improving biomass and metabolic product yield which are oxygen dependent processes. Isolation, characterization and identification of Himalayan isolate will be discussed. Conditions at which optimum VtHb is produced were established for the isolate. Furthermore the strain identity was established by a detailed analysis of the hemoglobin protein and its gene sequence of Himalayan strain with the patented gene sequence of Vitreoscilla isolated by Bailey.