About this Research Topic
In collaboration with Microenergy 2022: The 4th International Workshop on Microbial Life under Extreme Energy Limitation, we are proud to launch Volume II of Studies on Life at the Energetic Edge – from Laboratory Experiments to Field-Based Investigations. This workshop focuses on the energy controls on microbial life and the exploration of the biological demand for energy.
Genetic adaptations and phenotypic traits that enable microorganisms to tolerate long periods of energy limitation have attracted broad scientific interest in recent years. Laboratory-based cultivation experiments have shown that the potential to survive weeks to months in the absence of energy inputs occurs across a phylogenetically wide range of microbes. Studies on natural environments have shown that energy limitation is pervasive across most habitats on Earth, from highly metabolically active surface habitats to subsurface environments that have been cut off from new energy inputs for thousands of years. Yet, much remains to be learned about the evolutionary adaptations and life history traits that enable microorganisms to live under low-energy conditions. Similarly, the spectrum of energy sources and metabolisms that enable and support life on Earth and potentially elsewhere in the Universe is far from constrained.
Volume II of this Research Topic will bring together cutting-edge contributions from fields as diverse as biochemistry, geochemistry, geology, genetics, microbiology, ecology, biotechnology, and astrobiology – fields which are collectively transforming our understanding of life in its predominant physiological state. We welcome a broad range of articles ranging from experimental and field-based studies to theoretical explorations. This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Review, Mini Review, Methods, Perspective and Opinion articles.
Genetic adaptations and phenotypic traits that enable microorganisms to tolerate long periods of energy limitation have attracted broad scientific interest in recent years. Laboratory-based cultivation experiments have shown that the potential to survive weeks to months in the absence of energy inputs occurs across a phylogenetically wide range of microbes. Studies on natural environments have shown that energy limitation is pervasive across most habitats on Earth, from highly metabolically active surface habitats to subsurface environments that have been cut off from new energy inputs for thousands of years. Yet, much remains to be learned about the evolutionary adaptations and life history traits that enable microorganisms to live under low-energy conditions. Similarly, the spectrum of energy sources and metabolisms that enable and support life on Earth and potentially elsewhere in the Universe is far from constrained.
Volume II of this Research Topic will bring together cutting-edge contributions from fields as diverse as biochemistry, geochemistry, geology, genetics, microbiology, ecology, biotechnology, and astrobiology – fields which are collectively transforming our understanding of life in its predominant physiological state. We welcome a broad range of articles ranging from experimental and field-based studies to theoretical explorations. This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Review, Mini Review, Methods, Perspective and Opinion articles.
Keywords: #CollectionSeries, Adaptation, energy limitation, genetics, geochemistry, biotechnology, Microenergy, microbe, biochemistry, geology, microbiology, ecology, astrobiology
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
