In Chaotropy Lies Opportunity.

Mark A Lever

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.01505

Abstract

In Chaotropy Lies Opportunity.

Highlights

In many cases the “biotic fringe,” i.e., the boundary separating environments that sustain life from environments believed to exclusively host abiotic processes (Shock, 2000), has to be adjusted to include new places that were previously considered devoid of life
Sustenance of life in any given locale requires that organisms conserve sufficient power to repair the inevitable biomolecule damage that is induced by their environment over time
Comparable increases in basal power requirement (BPR) likely result under other physiological extremes, e.g., high pressure, radiation, desiccation, pH, osmotic stress, chemical toxicity, and combinations thereof

Summary

Introduction

Sustenance of life in any given locale requires that organisms conserve sufficient power to repair the inevitable biomolecule damage that is induced by their environment over time. Despite adaptations that result in increased heat stability of their cellular building blocks, organisms adapted to hot environments have to spend orders of magnitude more power on the repair of biomolecules from temperature-related damage than their counterparts living at moderate temperatures (Lever et al, 2015).

Results

Conclusion