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Frontiers Media, Frontiers in Microbiology, (12), 2021

DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.730231

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The Piezo-Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Thermococcus piezophilus Regulates Its Energy Efficiency System to Cope With Large Hydrostatic Pressure Variations

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Deep-sea ecosystems share a common physical parameter, namely high hydrostatic pressure (HHP). Some of the microorganisms isolated at great depths have a high physiological plasticity to face pressure variations. The adaptive strategies by which deep-sea microorganisms cope with HHP variations remain to be elucidated, especially considering the extent of their biotopes on Earth. Herein, we investigated the gene expression patterns of Thermococcus piezophilus, a piezohyperthermophilic archaeon isolated from the deepest hydrothermal vent known to date, under sub-optimal, optimal and supra-optimal pressures (0.1, 50, and 90 MPa, respectively). At stressful pressures [sub-optimal (0.1 MPa) and supra-optimal (90 MPa) conditions], no classical stress response was observed. Instead, we observed an unexpected transcriptional modulation of more than a hundred gene clusters, under the putative control of the master transcriptional regulator SurR, some of which are described as being involved in energy metabolism. This suggests a fine-tuning effect of HHP on the SurR regulon. Pressure could act on gene regulation, in addition to modulating their expression.