![]() ![]() ![]() So how does life in the deep adapt? Often proteins evolve pressure-resistant structures by adaptations not yet fully understood. From L to R: Mackenzie Gerringer, formerly an undergraduate researcher and now a graduate student Chloe Weinstock, a current undergraduate researcher and Dr. Adapting to Pressure Deployment of the hadal fish trap from the Falkor. Actin from a shallow fish or land animal does not form filaments properly under high pressure. For example, a major protein of muscles is actin, which makes filaments essential for muscle contraction. Every organism has thousands of different proteins, each with a different shape and function. You can think of pressure pushing water molecules into a protein and distorting its shape. A protein is a chain of amino acids folded into a complex 3-dimensional shape necessary for its function. Consider proteins, which are responsible for many structures and most dynamic processes of living cells. However, pressure does affect all life in another way: it can distort the complex structures of biomolecules - DNA, membranes, proteins- upon which all life depends. Yes, high pressure crushes chambers with air, such as lungs and fish swimbladders, but water itself is not compressed much by pressure, and most life in the deep does not have any air spaces. That is pretty stressful, but not in the way that most people think. Pressure increases by 1 atmosphere (atm) for every 10 m (33 ft) of depth, from 1 atm at the surface to about 1,100 atm. Water’s weight creates pressure (more properly, hydrostatic pressure), one of the most important factors affecting deep-sea life. That is about the weight you would feel at the bottom of the Mariana Trench from nearly 11,000 m (7 miles) of water above! Pressure chamber for studying the functions of proteins in the laboratory. One hundred adult elephants standing on your head. On the ship we measured its osmotic concentration as an indicator of its TMAO concentrations, and it fits well with previous data for other fishes in other oceans. An abyssal grenadier or rattail fish from 5000 m retrieved today with the fish trap from the Falkor. ![]()
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