Pressure-Temperature Effects on Thermophilic Archaebacteria
Abstract
The primary objectives of this research are to investigate pressure effects on extreme thermophiles isolated from submarine hot vents, to compare the effects of pressure on deep-sea and shallow-water organisms, and to determine the properties of hydrogenases as a function of temperature and pressure. During the first year we investigated the importance of interphase mass transfer on the growth of methanococcus jannaschii at elevated pressures and determined conditions under which growth is transport limited. The results suggest that transport limitations may govern the growth rate of the organism in its natural deep-sea habitat. We also demonstrated that the combination of high pressure and high sodium chloride concentration has a potent stabilizing effect on crude hydrogenase from Mc. jannaschii. The interplay between pressure and salt may also be important in the deep-sea environment. In the second year, further studies of bacterial growth and productivity at elevated pressures will proceed in parallel with studies of hydrogenase structure and function. The organisms to be studied Mc. jannaschii, Methanococcus thermolithotrophicus, and newly isolated extremely thermophilic archaebacterium ES4 under conditions that approximate the known physicochemical environments of deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 26, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA220051
Entities
People
- Douglas S Clark
Organizations
- University of California, Berkeley