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Press Release 032007 | |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Researchers Map Genetic Circuits that Control Microbial Responses in Extreme Environments Results help explain how proteins and their interactions have evolved to regulate physiological responses of organisms in extremely harsh environments SEATTLE -- March 20, 2007 -- Researchers at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) have, for the first time, mapped a set of protein/protein and protein/DNA interactions that help explain how many extremophiles -- organisms that thrive in extreme conditions -- regulate their genes in response to changes in the environment. According to Nitin Baliga, Ph.D., assistant professor at ISB and senior author of the PNAS article, "Understanding how these organisms function could eventually allow us to do things like engineer crops to grow in high salinity soils, which are often found in drought stricken regions experiencing humanitarian crises." The findings were published in last week's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). The full report can be obtained at www.pnas.org. Research focused on Halobacterium, a member of the Archaea family of organisms, which can live in some of the harshest environments on Earth, including boiling thermal vents on the sea floor and extreme saline environments such as the Great Salt Lake. Understanding how gene regulation occurs in environments that would kill most organisms could eventually lead to breakthroughs in healthcare, bio-energy, agriculture, computing and more. "As discovery-based expeditions are providing insights into the diversity of life forms in these unusual environments, the systems level studies in Halobacterium are providing crucial information regarding the molecular evolution and functioning of these organisms," said Dr. Baliga The ISB scientists found that in many Archaea two general transcription factors (GTFs) - proteins that are required for controlling the functions of all genes in these organisms - have each multiplied in numbers into families of up to 8 members, such that they have a substantially expanded repertoire of possible schemes with which to adapt to changes in their extreme environments. According to Dr. Marc Facciotti, Ph.D., first author on the article, "while Halobacterium has a relatively small set of genes to regulate, the problem of understanding how these genes are regulated is nevertheless very challenging. The approaches, computational tools and technical advances resulting from studies on Halobacterium will certainly facilitate the study of more complex organisms." "We were only able to achieve this level of success because of the cross-disciplinary nature of Systems Biology which brings together computational, statistical, genetic and biochemical researchers," said Dr. Baliga. "One critical driver in the future will be advances in computing power because the complexity of data sets, even those dealing with these relatively simple organisms, is daunting." This study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy.About the Institute for Systems Biology
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CONTACT:
Todd Langton Associate Director of Communications and Public Relations (206) 732-1333 
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