U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research on Thermal Adaptation and Trophodynamics of Earth's Hottest Animal, the Pompei Worm 'Alvinella pompejana'

San Diego State University Foundation, San Diego CA

Investigators

Abstract

0239877 Phleger This project involves international collaborative research on the mechanisms of thermal tolerance of deep-sea hydrothermal vent organisms. Professor Charles Phleger and graduate student Amy Groce of San Diego State University will travel to Australia to work with Dr. Peter Nichols and John Gordon of the CSIRO Division of Marine Research in Hobart, Tasmania. The project will also involve Matthew Nelson, a US graduate student studying at the University of Tasmania. They will work to determine the cell membrane characteristics that allow animals to survive in the high temperatures found near hydrothermal vents. This will involve profiling the signature lipids of selected species collected in 2001 using the deep-sea submersible Alvin. The CSIRO laboratory of Dr. Nichols is particularly well equipped for lipid analysis. Their study organisms include the pompei worm "Alvinella pompejana", which is the animal believed to be able to withstand the highest temperatures of any animal on earth. Their particular interest in lipids is based on the fact that a number of vent organisms consume large amounts of Archaea, a microorganism that makes up a significant portion of the biomass near vents. Archaea contain heat-tolerant cell membranes comprised of ether-linked lipids. This confers on these organisms an extraordinary capability to live in extreme environments. The broader significance of this research lies in understanding the biochemical and physiological mechanisms of adaptation which allow this worm and others to be studied to not just survive but grow luxuriantly at environmental temperatures approaching the boiling point of water. If it turns out that their membranes are composed of ether lipids obtained by eating Archaea, this brings new complexity and implications to how the food chain in extreme environments is constructed. In any case, the knowledge gained may have applications in some industrial settings where fermentation is required at high temperatures and pressures. A second area of significance is that it will provide the opportunity for a US graduate student to gain international experience in a highly regarded and well equipped marine laboratory in Australia.