GENOMICS OF HIGH TEMPERATURE BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

描述（改编自研究者摘要）： 第三个王国，海蛞蝓，是极端的超嗜热菌，能够生长在 在某些情况下温度高达113摄氏度。 许多这些 微生物的基因组很小，大约有200万个碱基对， 是从更深的分支系统发育树，在协议， 认为最古老的祖先微生物生长在高 温度 它们提出了分子生物学中有趣的基本问题 生物学，因为它们所有的生命过程都发生在高温下。 例如，DNA如何能够高保真地复制，以及这些DNA如何能够 生物体避免过度突变由于热诱导的DNA损伤， 他们有什么维修系统 调节蛋白如何识别和结合 在100摄氏度以上的温度下， 染色体是如何 保持稳定？ 蛋白质是如何在如此高的温度下发挥作用的？ 这些和其他细胞过程的新策略将被发现 随着我们对极端嗜热菌的研究的增加 米勒博士提议 对其中一种生物进行功能性基因组分析， 一种可以在103摄氏度生长的细菌， 与其他高温微生物的功能基因组方面。 他与加州理工学院梅尔·西蒙博士的实验室合作， 完成了火杆菌属220万个基因组的测序 嗜气菌 他将使用这个序列， 注释，作为该微生物基因组研究的起点。 他将采用全基因组体外基因表达分析，并将 开发一个遗传系统，允许额外的分析方法， 采用 研究人员还将开始对 的基因组，它可以在113摄氏度，已知的最高温度下生长 任何生物体的温度。

DESCRIPTION (adapted from investigator's abstract): Numerous members of the third kingdom, Archaea, are extreme hyperthermophiles, able to grow at temperatures up to 113 degrees C in some cases. Many of these microorganisms have small genomes, on the order of 2 million base pairs, and are from the deeper branches of the phylogenetic tree, in agreement with the notion that the most ancient ancestral microorganisms grew at high temperatures. They pose interesting fundamental questions in molecular biology, since all of their life processes occur at elevated temperatures. For instance, how can the DNA replicate with high fidelity, and how do these organisms avoid excessive mutation due to heat-induced DNA lesions, and what repair systems do they have? How do regulatory proteins recognize and bind to operators at temperatures above 100 degrees C? How does the chromosome remain stable? How are proteins able to function at such high temperatures? What new strategies for these and other cellular processes will be uncovered as we increase our study of extreme hyperthermophiles? Dr. Miller proposes to develop a functional genomic analysis of one of these organisms, Pyrobaculum aerophilum, an Archaeon that can grow at 103 C, and to compare aspects of the functional genome with other high temperature microorganisms. He has, in collaboration with Dr. Mel Simon's laboratory at CalTech, completed the sequence of the entire 2.2 megabase genome of Pyrobaculum aerophilum. He will use this sequence, which he is in the process of annotating, as a starting point for genomic studies of this microorganism. He will employ genome wide in vitro analyses of gene expression, and will develop a genetic system to permit additional methods of analysis to be used. The investigator will also begin some comparative studies on the genome of Pyrolobus fumarii, which can grow at 113 C, the highest known temperature for any living organism.