Deep Sea Microbes Probed by Incoherent Neutron Scattering Under High Hydrostatic Pressure

Abstract

The majority of the biosphere is a high pressure environment. Around 70% of the marine biosphere lies at depths below 1000 m, i.e. at pressures of 100 bars or higher. To survive in these environments, deep-biosphere organisms have adapted to life at high pressure. In vitro studies showed that the activity of certain proteins originating from deep-sea organisms is less affected by high pressure than that of enzymes from surface organisms . However, the genetic and structural bases for this increased pressure resistance are still unknown. Elastic incoherent neutron scattering studies, which provide access to information about molecular dynamics, constitute a very promising approach to decipher the structural adaptation in proteins living under high pressure. This approach has been used in the past to investigate the adaptation of biological systems to temperature and salinity and proved to be essential and complementary to structural studies. Here first investigations of high pressure effects on cell dynamics are presented using Thermococcales as models.