RCN: Extreme Biophysics - The Molecular Limits of Life

地球上的许多生命都存在于极端环境中。这些环境可能非常热或非常冷，它们可能有非常高的压力，它们可能是极端酸性或碱性的，它们可能含有非常苛刻的化学物质。细胞和维持细胞存活的大分子(如蛋白质、DNA、膜)对环境条件高度敏感。在实验室中，可以证明在极端条件下，这些分子被降解，其生物学功能被废除。相比之下，在自然环境中，细胞能够在极端条件下存活并茁壮成长。人们有兴趣了解细胞和生物大分子适应极端环境的机制，以及不断变化的物理和化学环境如何影响地球数十亿年的进化。这个研究协调网络(RCN)将把来自非常不同领域的科学家聚集在一起，研究地球上生命的极限。除了对生命规律的基本了解外，对生物分子和细胞如何进化到在极端环境中发挥作用的详细了解将有助于开发用于绿色化学应用、生物修复和生物治疗的新的工业和生物技术过程。在与生命相容的各种极端条件下对生命的更好理解，也将为在其他行星上寻找生命提供信息，并提供关于地球上生命起源的线索。这个RCN将促进真正新颖的跨学科合作，这些合作是理解极端环境中的生活所必需的。它将资助科学会议、研讨会和实验室交流计划，以促进异花授粉。RCN还将促进为本科生和研究生以及博士后研究员制定培训方案，在这一研究领域实现趋同所需的非常不同的学科之间的接口。地球上的大部分生物圈和生物量都是在温度(T)、压力(P)、pH和盐分(I)的极端条件下发现的。人们已经很好地理解了所有生物分子(如蛋白质、DNA、膜)的物理性质(如结构、稳定性、相互作用、溶解性)和功能性质对T、P、pH和I条件高度敏感。这一极端生物物理研究协调网络将促进各学科(例如，地球化学、海洋学、天体物理学、计算、生物化学、微生物学和地球微生物学、分析化学、基因组学、分子和细胞生物物理学)的汇聚，以了解40亿年来生命是如何随着地球条件的变化而演变的。现在已经有了大量极端生物的基因组，为系统研究不同环境中生物的分子进化提供了一个有用的起点。发展极端生物物理学领域的时机已经成熟。这个RCN的中心目标是定期召集背景迥异的科学家，系统地研究极端条件下生命的生物物理和生物化学基础。会议、研讨会和实验室访问将成为交流和合作的工具。区域生物信息网的成果包括：(1)确定极端分子和细胞生物物理学中的关键问题，(2)确定可用于研究的有前途的研究领域和系统，(3)在技术和概念上取得进展，(4)为这一领域的研究吸引资金而开展跨学科合作，(5)培训青年科学家的途径，使他们为真正以这种多学科方法研究地球上和地球以外的生命做好准备。该RCN由分子和细胞生物科学部的分子生物物理组和物理部的生命系统物理学项目共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Much of life on Earth exists in extreme environments. These environments can be very hot or very cold, they can have very high pressure, they can be extremely acidic or alkaline, and they can contain very harsh chemicals. Cells and the large molecules (e.g. proteins, DNA, membranes) that keep cells alive are highly sensitive to environmental conditions. In the laboratory it can be shown that under extreme conditions these molecules are degraded and their biological functions are abrogated. In contrast, in their natural environments, cells manage to survive and thrive under extreme conditions. It is of interest to understand the mechanisms whereby cells and biological macromolecules adapt to tolerate extreme environments, and how changing physical and chemical environments have affected evolution during billions of years on Earth. This Research Coordination Network (RCN) will bring together scientists from very different fields to examine the limits of life on Earth. Besides fundamental understanding of the rules of life, detailed understanding of how biomolecules and cells have evolved to function in extreme environments will help in the development of novel industrial and biotechnological processes for green chemistry applications, bioremediation and bio-therapeutics. Improved understanding of life in the wide range of extreme conditions compatible with life will also inform the search for life on other planets and provide clues about the origins of life on Earth. This RCN will foster the truly novel cross-disciplinary collaborations that are needed to understand life in extreme environments. It will fund scientific meetings, workshops, and lab exchange programs to foment cross-pollination. The RCN will also contribute towards the development of training programs for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at the interface between the very different disciplines required to achieve convergence in this research area. Much of the Earth's biosphere and biomass are found under extreme conditions of temperature (T), pressure (P), pH and salt (I). It is already well understood that the physical (e.g. structure, stability, interactions, solubility) and functional properties of all biological molecules (e.g. proteins, DNA, membranes) are highly sensitive to conditions of T, P, pH and I. The molecular and cellular mechanisms used for adaptation for life under extreme conditions are poorly understood. This Research Coordination Network on Extreme Biophysics will stimulate the convergence of disciplines (e.g. geochemistry, oceanography, astrophysics, computation, biochemistry, microbiology and geomicrobiology, analytical chemistry, genomics, molecular and cellular biophysics) needed to understand how life evolved for 4 billion years in response to changing conditions on Earth. Genomes from a large number of extremophilic organisms are now available, providing a useful starting point for a systematic study of molecular evolution of organisms in different environments. The moment is ripe for the development of the field of extreme biophysics. The central goal of this RCN is to regularly gather scientists with vastly different backgrounds to examine systematically the biophysical and biochemical basis for life under extreme conditions. Meetings, workshops and lab visits will be the vehicle for exchange and collaboration. The outcomes of the RCN include (1) identification of critical questions in extreme molecular and cellular biophysics, (2) identification of the promising research areas and systems useful for study, (3) progress with technological and conceptual road-blocks, (4) cross-disciplinary collaborative efforts to attract funding for research in this area, (5) pathways for training of young scientists to prepare them for a truly this multidisciplinary approach to study life on Earth and beyond. This RCN is jointly funded by the Molecular Biophysics Cluster in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and the Physics of Living Systems Program in the Division of Physics.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.