Abstract

I am requesting funds to visit the laboratory of Dr. Kallmeyer at the University of Potsdam and to work with him and his graduate student, Patrick Sauer, to adapt his high-temperature, high-pressure system to high-temperature, high-pressure deep-sea microbes, and extend the pressure limit to shallow crustal pressure regimes (~100 MPa). The goals of this visit are to (1) test the current high-pressure, high-temperature equipment with a known deep-sea thermophile, Archaeoglobus fulgidus; (2) develop an improved design that increases working pressures to ~100 MPa and includes the addition of fixative to subsamples prior to decompression; and (3) outline future research collaborations between Dr. Kallmeyer, Dr. Rogers and Mr. Sauer. The requested travel funds will solidify a collaboration between two C- DEBI affiliates, including a predoctoral student, and jumpstart a number of future deep biosphere research projects. The transfer of knowledge regarding the high-temperature, high-pressure growth system will greatly expand our ability to investigate the limits of microbial life in the subsurface, and sharing equipment design is one of the key motivations of the C-DEBI community.