BE/Gen-En: The Oxygen-stress Response in the Extremophile Halobacterium sp. NRC-1: Systems Analysis and Development of Supplemental High School Instruction Modules

系统生物学研究所的Leroy Hood博士、Nitin Bilia博士和Pat Ehrman博士获得了一项赠款，以评估盐生细菌的全球氧反应机制。NRC-1通过一项研究计划，包括一个强有力的平行高中教育部分。盐杆菌属(Halbacterium sp.)NRC-1属于一组被称为古生菌的生物，它们经常在深海喷口和太阳盐滩等极端环境中遇到，因此是新型生物技术和健康相关产品的资源。它是一种极端嗜盐生物(喜盐有机体)，在光、温度、盐度和氧气的作用下频繁摇摆。其完整的基因组序列和复杂的实验分析工具使该微生物能够灵活地研究适应重要环境因素变化的全细胞(全球)机制。这个项目的研究目标是剖析介导氧应激反应的生物网络。布拉加博士和他的同事们将利用先进的建模和模拟方法，同时分析生物体中所有基因的数据，如mRNA和蛋白质的丰度，以及蛋白质与蛋白质的相互作用，以破译范围和细节前所未有的重要生物网络。事实证明，充满活力和丰富多彩的NRC-1文化将有效地激发年轻学生的兴趣。更重要的是，它是非致病性的，容易净化，超过了昂贵和潜在危险的灭菌工具的需要。这个项目的教育目标是开发基于探究的补充高中教学模块和材料。为了实现这一目标，胡德、布雷加和埃尔曼博士将与教师、学生和其他科学教育工作者通力合作。学生将学习系统生物学中的现代协作方法，生物学并不完全是一门固定叙事主导的科学。埃尔曼和他的同事将与教育产品开发商合作，确保教育产品在全国范围内向高中传播。

A grant has been awarded to Drs. Leroy Hood, Nitin Baliga and Pat Ehrman of the Institute for Systems Biology to evaluate the global oxygen-response mechanisms in Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 through a research program including a strong parallel high-school educational component. Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 belongs to a group of organisms called Archaea that are frequently encountered in extreme environments such as deep-sea vents and solar salt flats and are, therefore, resources for novel biotechnology and health-related products. It is an extreme halophile (salt-loving organism) that experiences frequent sways in light, temperature, salinity and oxygen. The availability of its complete genome sequence and sophisticated experimental analysis tools render this microorganism pliable for studying whole cell (global) mechanisms of adaptation to changes in important environmental factors. The research goal of this project is to dissect the biological networks that mediate the oxygen-stress response. Dr. Baliga and co-workers will simultaneously analyze data for all of the genes in the organism such as abundance of mRNA and proteins, and protein-protein interactions with advanced modeling and simulation methods to decipher an essential biological network at a level unprecedented in scope and detail.Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 cultures being vibrant and colorful will prove effective in provoking interest in young students. More importantly, it is non-pathogenic and easily decontaminated overriding the need for expensive and potentially hazardous sterilization instruments. The education goal of this project is to develop inquiry-based supplemental high school teaching modules and materials. To achieve this goal Drs. Hood, Baliga and Ehrman will work collaboratively with teachers, students and other science educators. Students will learn the modern collaborative approaches in systems biology and that biology is not exclusively a fixed-narrative dominated science. Mr. Ehrman and his colleagues will work with education products developers to ensure nationwide dissemination of the educational products to high schools.