This invention provides fundamental science and novel device architectures for surface plasmon -based, complementary metal oxide semiconductor -compatible, optical elements such as modulators, couplers, and switches. The cross includes a body portion having a plurality of trunnions extending outwardly therefrom. The present invention also relates to methods of isolating such thermophilic organisms, methods of cloning polynucleotides that encode such enzymes, polynucleotides encoding such enzymes, and methods of using such enzymes and organisms for the production of 1,3-propanediol.