SGER: Mineral Catalyzed Biochemical Synthesis in High Pressure Hydrothermal Environments

9730063海原生命在各种各样的高压水环境中繁衍生息。热液喷口支持丰富的生态系统，而岩石微生物在与花岗岩、玄武岩和沉积物相关的深层含水层中生存。在深海中，生命通常是稀疏的，但它的潜在意义是巨大的，因为这些栖息地可能代表着超过10亿立方公里的地壳体积。高压生物能在多大程度上利用这一巨大的储量，在很大程度上取决于高压水热有机合成的效率。现代生物利用酶来催化代谢反应，特别是通过二氧化碳的加入来扩大分子的步骤。在提议的实验中，包括过渡金属硫化物在内的矿物表面将作为高压、水热条件下这些反应的可能催化剂进行研究。这次探索将为地质相关条件下的有机合成提供基础数据，这些数据对未来极端环境下的生命研究至关重要。

9730063 Hazen Life thrives in a remarkable variety of aqueous, high-pressure environments. Hydrothermal vents support rich ecosystems, while rock-bound microbes survive in deep aquifers associated with granite, basalt, and sediments. Life is generally sparse at depth, but it's potential Significance is great, for these habitats may represent a crustal volume exceeding a billion cubic kilometers. The extent to which high-pressure organisms exploit this vast volume will depend, in large measure, on the efficiency of high-pressure, hydrothermal organic synthesis. Modern organisms use enzymes to catalyze metabolic reactions, notabley steps by which molecules are enlarged through CO2 addition? In the proposed experiments mineral surfaces, including transition metal sulfices, will be investigated as possible catalysts for these reactions under high-pressure, hydrothermal conditions. This exploration will provide fundamental data on organic synthesis under geologically relevant conditions--data essential to future studies of life in extreme environments.