U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research on Thermal Adaptation and Trophodynamics of Earth's Hottest Animal, the Pompei Worm 'Alvinella pompejana'

这个项目涉及深海热液喷口生物耐热机制的国际合作研究。圣迭戈州立大学的查尔斯·弗莱格教授和研究生艾米·格罗斯将前往澳大利亚，与位于塔斯马尼亚州霍巴特的CSIRO海洋研究部的彼得·尼科尔斯博士和约翰·戈登博士合作。该项目还将涉及在塔斯马尼亚大学学习的美国研究生马修·纳尔逊。他们将致力于确定使动物能够在热液喷口附近的高温中生存的细胞膜特性。这将涉及对2001年使用深海潜水器阿尔文号收集的选定物种的标志性脂质进行剖析。尼科尔斯博士的CSIRO实验室特别适合进行脂质分析。他们研究的生物包括庞贝蠕虫“Alvinella pompejana”，这是一种被认为能够承受地球上任何动物中最高温度的动物。他们对脂质的特别兴趣是基于这样一个事实，即许多喷口有机体消耗大量的古生菌，这种微生物构成了喷口附近生物量的很大一部分。古生菌含有耐热细胞膜，由乙醚连接的脂类组成。这赋予了这些生物在极端环境中生存的非凡能力。这项研究的更广泛的意义在于了解适应的生化和生理机制，这些机制使我们能够研究这种蠕虫和其他蠕虫不仅存活，而且在接近沸点的环境温度下茂盛地生长。如果发现它们的膜是由食用古生菌获得的乙醚类脂组成的，这就给极端环境中的食物链的构建带来了新的复杂性和影响。在任何情况下，所获得的知识可能在一些需要在高温和高压下发酵的工业环境中应用。第二个重要的领域是，它将为美国研究生提供机会，在澳大利亚一个备受推崇、设备齐全的海洋实验室获得国际经验。

0239877PhlegerThis project involves international collaborative research on the mechanisms of thermal tolerance of deep-sea hydrothermal vent organisms. Professor Charles Phleger and graduate student Amy Groce of San Diego State University will travel to Australia to work with Dr. Peter Nichols and John Gordon of the CSIRO Division of Marine Research in Hobart, Tasmania. The project will also involve Matthew Nelson, a US graduate student studying at the University of Tasmania. They will work to determine the cell membrane characteristics that allow animals to survive in the high temperatures found near hydrothermal vents. This will involve profiling the signature lipids of selected species collected in 2001 using the deep-sea submersible Alvin. The CSIRO laboratory of Dr. Nichols is particularly well equipped for lipid analysis. Their study organisms include the pompei worm "Alvinella pompejana", which is the animal believed to be able to withstand the highest temperatures of any animal on earth. Their particular interest in lipids is based on the fact that a number of vent organisms consume large amounts of Archaea, a microorganism that makes up a significant portion of the biomass near vents. Archaea contain heat-tolerant cell membranes comprised of ether-linked lipids. This confers on these organisms an extraordinary capability to live in extreme environments.The broader significance of this research lies in understanding the biochemical and physiological mechanisms of adaptation which allow this worm and others to be studied to not just survive but grow luxuriantly at environmental temperatures approaching the boiling point of water. If it turns out that their membranes are composed of ether lipids obtained by eating Archaea, this brings new complexity and implications to how the food chain in extreme environments is constructed. In any case, the knowledge gained may have applications in some industrial settings where fermentation is required at high temperatures and pressures. A second area of significance is that it will provide the opportunity for a US graduate student to gain international experience in a highly regarded and well equipped marine laboratory in Australia.