Collaborative Research: LEXEN: Biological and Chemical Energetics of Deep-Sea SubSurface Life: Evolutionary and Exobiological Implications

该项目的总体目标是审查深海次表层环境中微生物种群的具体性质。该项目包括四个部分：1)表征海底环境中存在的生物多样性，并确定组成微生物生理学的性质；2)确定海底的化学生物能量学，特别是与海底环境中普遍存在的微生物有关的碳、氮、硫和磷物种；3)确定模式异养型高温嗜热菌和从地下新分离的微生物的细胞内生物能量学，包括它们的初级能源和电子载体，以及它们的有机和无机‘特征’；以及4)表征地下环境中已知和新分离的超嗜热菌的胞外生物能量学，包括电子供体和受体，无机营养物质，以及它们产生胞外聚合物、栖息生物膜和作为联合体存在的能力。该项目的成果将成为描述地外生态系统及其潜在生命形式的范例。

The overall objective of this project is to examine the specific nature of the microbial population within deep sea subsurface environments. This project has four components: 1) to characterize the biodiversity that exists in subseafloor environments and determine the nature of constituent microbial physiologies; 2) to determine the chemical bioenergetics of the subsurface, specifically the carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorous species of microbial relevance that are prevalent in subsurface environments; 3) to determine the intracellular bioenergetics of model hetertrophic hyperthermophiles and those newly-isolated from the subsurface, including their primary energy currency and electron carriers, and their organic and inorganic `signatures`; and 4) to characterize the extracellular bioenergetics of known and newly-isolated hyperthermophiles in subsurface environments, including electron donors and acceptors, inorganic nutrients, and their capacity to produce exocellular polymers, to inhabit biofilms, and to exist as consortia. The results of this project are to serve as a paradigm for the characterization of extraterrestrial ecosystems and potential life forms therein.