title: Current developments in marine microbiology: high-pressure biotechnology and the genetic engineering of piezophiles.
abstract: A key aspect of marine environments is elevated pressure; for example, ∼70% of the ocean is at a pressure of at least 38MPa. Many types of Bacteria and Archaea reside under these high pressures, which drive oceanic biogeochemical cycles and catalyze reactions among rocks, sediments and fluids. Most marine prokaryotes are classified as piezotolerant or as (obligate)-piezophiles with few cultivated relatives. The biochemistry and physiology of these organisms are largely unknown. Recently, high-pressure cultivation technology has been combined with omics and DNA recombination methodologies to examine the physiology of piezophilic marine microorganisms. We are now beginning to understand the adaptive mechanisms of these organisms, along with their ecological functions and evolutionary processes. This knowledge is leading to the further development of high-pressure-based biotechnology.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Deep-Sea Microbial Cell Biology, Department of Deep Sea Science, Sanya Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 62 Fenghuang Road, Sanya 572000, China.
authors.forename: Xuegong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Bartlett
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China. Electronic address: xoxiang@sjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011312:Pressure