Sprecher
Beschreibung
Since Louis Pasteur, it was beyond imagination that life could thrive at temperatures above the boiling point of water as bacteria could be safely killed when incubated at 100°C. The discovery of Archaea as third domain of life did not only revolutionize the tree of life, but led to the identification of heat-loving organisms that thrive at temperatures up to 122°C. Many of these hyperthermophilic Archaea were isolated from black smokers and hydrothermal vents, which are speculated to be the site for the emergence of early life forms. Considering that these organisms are fully adapted to optimally grow at extremely high temperatures, we might be able to learn what is required to maintain (or form) a functional cell in habitats with extreme temperatures and steep temperature gradients. At the Archaea Centre Regensburg, a wide range of hyperthermophilic Archaea were isolated and characterized for the first time allowing us to study how hyperthermophilic organisms adapt to extreme environmental conditions. In this talk, I will introduce you to some of the most fascinating and captivating hyperthermophilic Archaea. Moreover, I will highlight molecular strategies utilized by hyperthermophilic Archaea to cope with extreme temperatures and sudden temperature changes. Among others, we discovered that hyperthermophiles dynamically adjust the extent and chemical identity of posttranscriptionally installed rRNA modifications in adaptation to changes in growth temperature.
