As scientists continue to discover new niches for extreme life, the biological relevance of hydrostatic pressure is becoming much more widely understood and appreciated. The unusual adaptations of organisms thriving under these conditions promise to be a rich source of new insights, provided structural information can be obtained at the molecular level.
CHESS is at the forefront of this research – enabling scientists to study samples under high pressure, revealing how biomolecules and cellular structures behave in extreme environments.
The deep sea encompasses more than 90% of Earth’s habitable volume, characterized by low temperatures and high pressures, with pressure increasing by about 1 bar per 10 meters depth. This extreme environment is home to unique organisms with remarkable adaptations. The biological relevance of hydrostatic pressure is becoming much more widely understood and appreciated as discoveries of new niches for extreme life continue to emerge.
University of California San Diego Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Itay Budin teamed up with researchers from around the country to study the cell membranes of ctenophores (“comb jellies”) and found they had unique lipid structures that allow them to live under intense pressure. Their work appears in Science.
In addition to biological applications, hydrostatic pressure is a useful biophysical tool that can perturb systems in ways directly connected to the presence of atomic-level voids, cavities, and other volumetric properties. Under pressure, individual molecular complexes can dissociate, and monomers can unfold; transitions can occur in lipid mesophases, and liquid phases can dissolve and re-form.
Read more on CHESS website
Image: A collage of comb jelly species arranged in order of depth. The shallowest one (top left) lives near the surface; the deepest one (bottom) attaches itself to seafloor structures 2.5 miles/4 km deep. The study was inspired by comparing the chemical composition of shallow and deep comb jellies.
Credit: Jacob Winnikoff
