Elucidating the mechanisms of morphological plasticity in archaea

古生菌无处不在，在大多数，也许是所有的生态系统中扮演着重要的角色。许多是在极端环境中发现的，这使它们具有巨大的工业应用潜力。古菌的一个子集可以显著影响气候，而其他的可能会促进疾病。然而，我们对它们的细胞生物学知之甚少。这项资助的工作将通过解决一个基本但关键的问题来显著增强我们对古菌细胞生物学的理解：介导古菌细胞形状转变的机制是什么？用于完成这项工作的尖端工具，其中许多是在PI的实验室开发的，将为各级科学家提供获得新技能的绝佳机会。NSF的支持还将通过一个创新项目帮助建立一个更加多样化和包容性的科学社区，让传统上在STEM领域代表性不足的学生在年轻时参与研究项目，并为所有生物学学生提供更全面的教育。在古细菌中已经观察到不同的细胞形状。例如，火山盐藻可以形成多形性圆盘或规则形状的棒状。分离出在各种条件下仅形成棒状或圆盘状的火山分枝杆菌突变体，可以对棒状和圆盘状细胞进行详细的表征。利用蛋白质组学和各种生长条件下细胞的先进成像，将识别每种细胞形状的特异性蛋白质，极大地增强我们对控制细胞形状的调节和结构成分的理解。这些研究可以阐明细菌细胞生物学中鲜为人知的方面，尽管经过多年的研究，细胞形状决定和相关的选择压力仍然知之甚少。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Archaea are ubiquitous, playing important roles in most, perhaps all, ecosystems. Many are found in extreme environments, imbuing them with great potential for industrial applications. A subset of Archaea can significantly affect the climate, while others may promote disease. Yet, we know relatively little about their cell biology. The work funded by this grant will significantly enhance our understanding of archaeal cell biology by addressing a basic but critical question: What are the mechanisms that mediate archaeal cell shape transitions. The cutting-edge tools used to complete this work, many developed in the PI’s lab, will provide scientists at all levels with an excellent opportunity to gain new skills. NSF support will also help build a more diverse and inclusive scientific community through an innovative program exposing students traditionally underrepresented in STEM to research projects at a young age and providing all biology students with a more holistic education.Among Archaea diverse cell shapes have been observed. For instance, Haloferax volcanii can form pleomorphic discs or regularly shaped rods. The isolation of H. volcanii mutants forming only rods or disks under various conditions allows detailed characterization of rod- and disk-shaped cells. Using proteomics and advanced imaging of cells under various growth conditions, proteins specific to each cell shape will be identified, greatly enhancing our understanding of the regulatory and structural components that govern cell shape. These studies could elucidate poorly understood aspects of bacterial cell biology where, despite years of study, cell shape determination, and associated selective pressures, remain poorly understood.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.