Elucidating the mechanisms of morphological plasticity in archaea

珊瑚礁无处不在，在大多数，也许是所有的生态系统中发挥着重要作用。许多都是在极端环境中发现的，赋予它们巨大的工业应用潜力。一个亚类的真菌可以显著影响气候，而其他的则可能促进疾病。然而，我们对它们的细胞生物学知之甚少。这项资助的工作将通过解决一个基本但关键的问题来显着提高我们对古细菌细胞生物学的理解：介导古细菌细胞形状转变的机制是什么。用于完成这项工作的尖端工具，许多是在PI的实验室开发的，将为各级科学家提供获得新技能的绝佳机会。NSF的支持还将通过一项创新计划帮助建立一个更加多样化和包容性的科学社区，该计划使传统上在STEM中代表性不足的学生在年轻时参与研究项目，并为所有生物学学生提供更全面的教育。例如，Haloferax volcanii可以形成多形性盘或规则形状的杆。H.在各种条件下仅形成杆状或盘状的volcanii突变体允许详细表征杆状和盘状细胞。使用蛋白质组学和先进的成像技术，在各种生长条件下的细胞，蛋白质特定于每个细胞的形状将被确定，大大提高了我们对管理细胞形状的监管和结构组件的理解。这些研究可以阐明细菌细胞生物学中人们知之甚少的方面，尽管经过多年的研究，但细胞形状的确定和相关的选择压力仍然知之甚少。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Archaea are ubiquitous, playing important roles in most, perhaps all, ecosystems. Many are found in extreme environments, imbuing them with great potential for industrial applications. A subset of Archaea can significantly affect the climate, while others may promote disease. Yet, we know relatively little about their cell biology. The work funded by this grant will significantly enhance our understanding of archaeal cell biology by addressing a basic but critical question: What are the mechanisms that mediate archaeal cell shape transitions. The cutting-edge tools used to complete this work, many developed in the PI’s lab, will provide scientists at all levels with an excellent opportunity to gain new skills. NSF support will also help build a more diverse and inclusive scientific community through an innovative program exposing students traditionally underrepresented in STEM to research projects at a young age and providing all biology students with a more holistic education.Among Archaea diverse cell shapes have been observed. For instance, Haloferax volcanii can form pleomorphic discs or regularly shaped rods. The isolation of H. volcanii mutants forming only rods or disks under various conditions allows detailed characterization of rod- and disk-shaped cells. Using proteomics and advanced imaging of cells under various growth conditions, proteins specific to each cell shape will be identified, greatly enhancing our understanding of the regulatory and structural components that govern cell shape. These studies could elucidate poorly understood aspects of bacterial cell biology where, despite years of study, cell shape determination, and associated selective pressures, remain poorly understood.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.