SGER: Mineral Catalyzed Biochemical Synthesis in High Pressure Hydrothermal Environments

9730063哈森生命在各种不同的高压水环境中茁壮成长。热液喷口支撑着丰富的生态系统，而与岩石结合的微生物则生活在与花岗岩、玄武岩和沉积物有关的深层含水层中。生命通常在深处是稀少的，但它的潜在意义是巨大的，因为这些栖息地可能代表着超过10亿立方公里的地壳体积。高压生物在多大程度上利用这一巨大的生物量，在很大程度上将取决于高压水热有机合成的效率。现代生物体使用酶来催化新陈代谢反应，这是通过二氧化碳加成扩大分子的显著步骤？在拟议的实验中，将研究矿物表面，包括过渡金属硫酸盐，作为高压、水热条件下这些反应的可能催化剂。这项探索将提供在地质相关条件下有机合成的基本数据--这些数据对未来研究极端环境中的生命至关重要。

9730063 Hazen Life thrives in a remarkable variety of aqueous, high-pressure environments. Hydrothermal vents support rich ecosystems, while rock-bound microbes survive in deep aquifers associated with granite, basalt, and sediments. Life is generally sparse at depth, but it's potential Significance is great, for these habitats may represent a crustal volume exceeding a billion cubic kilometers. The extent to which high-pressure organisms exploit this vast volume will depend, in large measure, on the efficiency of high-pressure, hydrothermal organic synthesis. Modern organisms use enzymes to catalyze metabolic reactions, notabley steps by which molecules are enlarged through CO2 addition? In the proposed experiments mineral surfaces, including transition metal sulfices, will be investigated as possible catalysts for these reactions under high-pressure, hydrothermal conditions. This exploration will provide fundamental data on organic synthesis under geologically relevant conditions--data essential to future studies of life in extreme environments.