Month: September 2022

PRESSURE KILLS MOST CELLS. "Studies have been undertaken using the moderately piezotolerant Escherichia coli, where it has been found that pressures higher than 10 MPa inhibit motility; 20-50 MPa, cell division; 50 MPa, DNA replication; 58 MPa, protein synthesis; and 77 MPa, RNA synthesis." https://lnkd.in/dvfGnsZ View in LinkedIn

REAL EXTREMOPHILES. "The most extreme hyperpiezophiles can tolerate pressures up to 130 MPa, or 1,300 x atmospheric! In the deep ocean, temperatures range from near freezing (2-3 ºC) to piping hot (> 400 ºC near hydrothermal vents)." https://lnkd.in/dJg6Ndj View in LinkedIn

BEYOND THE LIMIT. "The combined effect of pressure and temperature on the phase state of a membrane from a deep-sea bacterium existing at 100 MPa and 2 °C is equivalent to an identical membrane at atmospheric pressure and -18 °C (lower than the low temperature limit for life)." https://lnkd.in/dvfGnsZ View in LinkedIn

PRESSURE SENSITIVE AMINO ACIDS. "Deep-sea microbes preserve membrane functionality at high pressure and low temperature by increasing the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids in their lipids ... A proline to glycine substitution in staphylococcal nuclease which both increased the stability of the protein to elevated pressure as well as decreased chain mobility." https://lnkd.in/d45ecD4 View in LinkedIn

DIFFERENT METABOLISM. "At the molecular level, the responses of microorganisms that are not high-pressure adapted to elevated pressures have revealed fundamental differences in cellular metabolism and regulatory processes as compared to microorganisms that specifically thrive under elevated pressures (piezophiles)." https://lnkd.in/d4AhBiy View in LinkedIn

GENETIC SHIFTS. "Investigations with piezophilic isolates have identified genes required for growth at elevated pressure, pressure responsive genes and gene products, and general categories of cellular processes which, if disrupted, result in specific growth impairment at high pressure. Examples of these processes include cell division and membrane homeostasis." https://lnkd.in/d4AhBiy View in LinkedIn

FLEXIBLE EXTERNAL LATERAL GENE TRANSFER POOL. "Despite the strong pressure on bacteria to maintain a small genome size by deleting the more expendable sequences from their genomes, advantages provided by some regions allow the maintenance of a flexible gene pool." Like an external hard drive for a small computer. https://lnkd.in/dN5QSUS View in LinkedIn

OBLIGATE PIEZOPHILES. Some Piezophilic bacteria can only live in extreme pressure conditions, because their pressure specific genes, pressure-adapted enzymes and metabolism, can only function in this pressure-cooker. https://lnkd.in/dHAV7X6 View in LinkedIn

LOW MW OSMOLYTES. "Protein function can be preserved at higher pressures by the accumulation of protein-stabilizing solutes. Several such solutes have been found to be upregulated in certain piezophiles, which have been suggested to protect proteins and cellular membranes from inactivation or denaturation." http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-biochemical-adaptations-that-piezophiles-make-to-protect-their-proteins-lipids-DNA View in LinkedIn

CHANGED METABOLISM. "In many organisms, there is an upregulation of genes involved in glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and glycogen metabolism during a high pressure exposure, also accompanied by high ATP levels. This could be explained as a stress response and a reflection of the need to rapidly manage energy and osmotic stability." http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-biochemical-adaptations-that-piezophiles-make-to-protect-their-proteins-lipids-DNA View in LinkedIn