RCN: Extreme Biophysics - The Molecular Limits of Life

地球上的许多生命都生活在极端环境中。这些环境可能很热，也可能很冷，它们可能有很高的压力，它们可能非常酸性或碱性，它们可能含有非常刺激性的化学物质。细胞和维持细胞存活的大分子（如蛋白质、DNA、膜）对环境条件高度敏感。在实验室中可以证明，在极端条件下，这些分子被降解，它们的生物功能被废除。相反，在自然环境中，细胞能够在极端条件下存活并茁壮成长。了解细胞和生物大分子适应极端环境的机制，以及变化的物理和化学环境如何影响地球上数十亿年来的进化是很有兴趣的。这个研究协调网络（RCN）将把来自不同领域的科学家聚集在一起，研究地球上生命的极限。除了对生命规律的基本理解之外，详细了解生物分子和细胞如何在极端环境中进化并发挥作用，将有助于开发绿色化学应用、生物修复和生物治疗的新型工业和生物技术过程。提高对各种极端条件下生命的认识，也将为寻找其他行星上的生命提供信息，并为地球上生命的起源提供线索。该RCN将促进真正新颖的跨学科合作，以了解极端环境下的生命。它将资助科学会议、研讨会和实验室交流项目，以促进异花授粉。RCN还将为本科生、研究生和博士后的培训项目的发展做出贡献，这些项目是为实现这一研究领域的融合所必需的不同学科之间的接口。地球生物圈和生物量的大部分是在温度(T)、压力(P)、pH值和盐(I)的极端条件下发现的。众所周知，所有生物分子（如蛋白质、DNA、膜）的物理特性（如结构、稳定性、相互作用、溶解度）和功能特性对T、P、pH和i的条件高度敏感。在极端条件下适应生命的分子和细胞机制却知之甚少。极端生物物理学研究协调网络将促进各学科（如地球化学、海洋学、天体物理学、计算学、生物化学、微生物学和地球微生物学、分析化学、基因组学、分子和细胞生物物理学）的融合，以了解生命如何在40亿年的时间里随着地球环境的变化而进化。大量嗜极生物的基因组现已可用，为系统研究不同环境下生物的分子进化提供了一个有用的起点。发展极端生物物理学领域的时机已经成熟。该RCN的中心目标是定期聚集具有不同背景的科学家，系统地研究极端条件下生命的生物物理和生化基础。会议、研讨会和实验室参观将成为交流和合作的工具。RCN的成果包括(1)识别极端分子和细胞生物物理学中的关键问题，(2)识别有前途的研究领域和有用的研究系统，(3)技术和概念障碍的进展，(4)跨学科合作努力，为该领域的研究吸引资金，(5)培养年轻科学家的途径，使他们为真正的多学科方法做好准备，研究地球上和地球以外的生命。该RCN由分子和细胞生物科学部的分子生物物理集群和物理部的生命系统物理项目共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Much of life on Earth exists in extreme environments. These environments can be very hot or very cold, they can have very high pressure, they can be extremely acidic or alkaline, and they can contain very harsh chemicals. Cells and the large molecules (e.g. proteins, DNA, membranes) that keep cells alive are highly sensitive to environmental conditions. In the laboratory it can be shown that under extreme conditions these molecules are degraded and their biological functions are abrogated. In contrast, in their natural environments, cells manage to survive and thrive under extreme conditions. It is of interest to understand the mechanisms whereby cells and biological macromolecules adapt to tolerate extreme environments, and how changing physical and chemical environments have affected evolution during billions of years on Earth. This Research Coordination Network (RCN) will bring together scientists from very different fields to examine the limits of life on Earth. Besides fundamental understanding of the rules of life, detailed understanding of how biomolecules and cells have evolved to function in extreme environments will help in the development of novel industrial and biotechnological processes for green chemistry applications, bioremediation and bio-therapeutics. Improved understanding of life in the wide range of extreme conditions compatible with life will also inform the search for life on other planets and provide clues about the origins of life on Earth. This RCN will foster the truly novel cross-disciplinary collaborations that are needed to understand life in extreme environments. It will fund scientific meetings, workshops, and lab exchange programs to foment cross-pollination. The RCN will also contribute towards the development of training programs for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at the interface between the very different disciplines required to achieve convergence in this research area. Much of the Earth's biosphere and biomass are found under extreme conditions of temperature (T), pressure (P), pH and salt (I). It is already well understood that the physical (e.g. structure, stability, interactions, solubility) and functional properties of all biological molecules (e.g. proteins, DNA, membranes) are highly sensitive to conditions of T, P, pH and I. The molecular and cellular mechanisms used for adaptation for life under extreme conditions are poorly understood. This Research Coordination Network on Extreme Biophysics will stimulate the convergence of disciplines (e.g. geochemistry, oceanography, astrophysics, computation, biochemistry, microbiology and geomicrobiology, analytical chemistry, genomics, molecular and cellular biophysics) needed to understand how life evolved for 4 billion years in response to changing conditions on Earth. Genomes from a large number of extremophilic organisms are now available, providing a useful starting point for a systematic study of molecular evolution of organisms in different environments. The moment is ripe for the development of the field of extreme biophysics. The central goal of this RCN is to regularly gather scientists with vastly different backgrounds to examine systematically the biophysical and biochemical basis for life under extreme conditions. Meetings, workshops and lab visits will be the vehicle for exchange and collaboration. The outcomes of the RCN include (1) identification of critical questions in extreme molecular and cellular biophysics, (2) identification of the promising research areas and systems useful for study, (3) progress with technological and conceptual road-blocks, (4) cross-disciplinary collaborative efforts to attract funding for research in this area, (5) pathways for training of young scientists to prepare them for a truly this multidisciplinary approach to study life on Earth and beyond. This RCN is jointly funded by the Molecular Biophysics Cluster in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and the Physics of Living Systems Program in the Division of Physics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.