IDENTIFYING NOVEL COMPONENTS INVOLVED IN THE GROWTH AND SURVIVAL OF THE COLD- AND PRESSURE-LOVING MARINE BACTERIUM, PHOTOBACTERIUM PROFUNDUM

尽管海洋的平均深度约为4000米，平均水压超过380个大气压，水温在1- 300摄氏度之间，但仍然可以找到被称为嗜压菌的嗜压微生物。嗜压菌适应了极端条件下的最佳生长，但人们对它们的生长机制知之甚少。为了科普极端情况，预计嗜压菌将产生新的细胞组分，这些组分可能对工业过程很重要。因此，有必要了解更多关于高压的基础，在某些情况下极端的温度，嗜压生物的生长。冷和压力的爱好细菌，发光杆菌深，已被采用作为一个模型系统，以了解嗜压生长。这种细菌是理想的模型系统，因为尽管它在高压下生长最佳，但它可以在大气压下生长。此外，发光杆菌DNA的测序已接近完成，并且已经开发了许多工具来操纵DNA。初步研究表明，发光杆菌外表面的成分似乎对冷高压生长很重要。因此，本研究的目的是表征发光菌表面成分，并研究这些结构的变化如何影响极端的生命。这项研究可能会发现新的表面成分，这对生物技术很重要。此外，这项研究也可以提供重要的见解的基础上，嗜压菌的增长，因为发光杆菌被认为是一个温和的嗜压菌，它也将提供一个有用的起点，调查更极端的嗜压菌。最后，由于食品工业正在开发压力灭菌，这些研究也可以更好地了解影响压力对微生物生长影响的因素。

Despite the average depth of the oceans being around 4000m, which exert an average water pressure of greater than 380 atmospheres, and water temperatures ranging from 1-300oC, pressure-loving microorganisms known as piezophiles can be found. Piezophiles have adapted to grow optimally under extreme conditions, yet the mechanisms by which they do so are poorly understood. To cope with extremes, it is expected that piezophiles will produce novel cellular components and that these components could potentially be important for industrial processes. Thus, there is a need to understand more about the basis of high-pressure, and in some cases extreme temperature, growth of piezophiles. The cold- and pressure-loving bacterium, Photobacterium profundum, has been adopted as a model system to understand piezophile growth. This bacterium is an ideal model system since, although it grows optimally at high pressure, it can grow at atmospheric pressure. Additionally, the sequencing of Photobacterium DNA is nearly complete and a number of tools have been developed to manipulate the DNA. Preliminary studies indicate that components on the outer surface of Photobacterium appear to be important for cold- and high pressure-growth. Thus, the aims of this research are to characterize Photobacterium surface components and to investigate how changes in these structures affects life at the extremes. This study could potentially identify novel surface components, which could be important for biotechnology. Additionally, this study could also provide important insights into the basis of piezophile growth and, since Photobacterium is considered to be a moderate piezophile, it will also provide a useful starting point for investigations into more extreme piezophiles. Lastly, since pressure sterilization is being developed by the food industry, these studies could also lead to a better understanding of factors influencing the effect of pressure on microoganism growth.