Biotechnology
An enzyme from this thermophilic bacterium revolutionized molecular biology by enabling the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to withstand high temperatures.
What is Thermus aquaticus?
This type of protein helps extremophiles to maintain their structure and function at high temperatures.
What are heat shock proteins? (Also acceptable: chaperonins)
This process allows organisms to produce organic matter using energy derived from the oxidation of inorganic molecules like hydrogen sulfide, instead of sunlight.
What is chemosynthesis?
Xerophiles survive in these extreme environments.
What are deserts? (Also acceptable: extremely dry, or low moisture)
What is Europa?
Acidophiles maintain internal pH by actively exporting these ions.
What are protons or hydrogen ions (H+)?
Two reasons halophiles are advantageous in PHA production.
What are a reduced risk of contamination and utilization of waste and industrial byproducts? (also acceptable: cost efficiency)
Psychrophilic organisms adapt to cold environments by increasing the proportion of these types of fatty acids in their membranes to maintain fluidity.
What are unsaturated fatty acids?
This metabolic process involves microorganisms producing methane by reducing carbon dioxide with hydrogen gas under anaerobic conditions.
What is methanogenesis?
The gut of these organisms can have a pH>11
What are soil-feeding termites?
This river in Spain is known for its extreme acidity and high iron content, providing a terrestrial analog for Martian environments.
What is the Rio Tinto?
This process describes the production of ATP without the presence oxygen.
What is anaerobic respiration? (also acceptable: Fermentation)
These proteinaceous antimicrobial substances are secreted by halophilic Archaea.
What are halocins?
This ion is used to power flagella in alkaliphilic microorganisms.
What are sodium ions?
Some bacteria utilize a metabolic strategy to gain energy by oxidizing this compound to sulfate in oxygen-poor environments.
What is sulfide? Also acceptable: thiosulfate or S0
This desert on Earth is used as a Mars analog due to its extreme aridity and high UV radiation, aiding in the development of life-detection instruments.
What is the Atacama Desert?
This is one of 4 properties of Prof Tor's favorite extremophile (Ferroglobus placidus).
What is hyperthermophilic? OR Fe(III) reducer OR oxidizes all major macromolecules and aromatic compounds OR is an electrogen
Halophiles maintain protein functionality in high-salt environments by having an excess of these amino acids on their protein surfaces.
What are acidic amino acids (e.g. aspartic and glutamic acid)?
This acidophilic archaeon is utilized in bioleaching to extract metals like gold and copper from ores through oxidation processes.
What is Sulfolobus acidocaldarius?
Some extremophiles possess membranes composed of this lipid, forming a monolayer that enhances membrane stability in extreme conditions.
What are tetraether lipids?
Certain extremophiles perform this anoxygenic photosynthesis using this trans-membrane protein instead of chlorophyll to harvest light energy.
What is bacteriorhodopsin?
Organisms such as giant tube worms and vent mussels survive without digestive systems by hosting chemosynthetic bacteria within their bodies—a prime example of this close biological interaction essential for nutrient exchange in extreme environments.
What is symbiosis?
This microbiology professor, along with an undergraduate researcher discovered Thermus aquaticus in a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. (Double points: name of the spring)
Who is Thomas Brock (and Hudson Freeze)? (Mushroom spring)
In the anaerobic respiration of extremophiles, molecules like sulfate, nitrate, or carbon dioxide perform this critical role enabling energy production in the absence of oxygen.
What is a terminal electron acceptor?
This class of enzymes, obtained from extremophiles, are used in detergents to remove stains from clothes.
What are proteases? (also acceptable: cellulase or lipase)
Hyperthermophilic archaea stabilize their DNA at high temperatures by introducing positive supercoils using this unique enzyme.
What is reverse gyrase?
This compound is used to store excess carbon and energy and is often seen as granules in microscopic images.
What are polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)?
This geological process involves the hydrothermal alteration of ultramafic rocks in the Earth's mantle, producing hydrogen and methane that fuel chemosynthetic microbial communities in some deep-sea environments.
What is serpentinization?
The author of this phrase: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
Who is Carl Sagan?
The four characteristics of thermophilic proteins when compared to mesophiles.
What are (1) more ion pairs, (2) greater hydrophobicity of interior, (3) more disulfide bonds, and (4) more hydrogen bonds.