Proposal submitted to: National Science Foundation, Box 000, Washington, DC 00000
Principal Investigators:
Dead or Alive Proposal Grant
Introduction
The purpose of this proposal is to find if areas in and around deep-sea hydro-thermic vents contain new forms of life. Finding new life forms would lead to additional research of how organisms can survive in extreme conditions with variable pressure and temperature.
Preliminary Analysis of a Subset of Samples
Proposal for Analysis of the Remaining Samples Materials and Methods For a specimen to be considered alive it must possess cells, grow and develop, be able to use energy, be able to reproduce, and respond to stimuli. If an organism is dead, but was once alive, it will still have DNA and be composed of cells, but it cannot grow or develop, use energy, reproduce, or respond to stimuli. If the specimen is organic it will contain carbon-based molecules bonded with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, etc., whereas inorganic specimens will contain non-carbon molecules. To test whether the organism is alive or dead a Tetrazolium (TZ) test will be used. If the solution around the specimen is red or pink the organism is alive. If there is no color change in the solution, the organism is to be considered not alive in terms that there are no redox reactions occurring. The next test to be conducted will be Feulgen’s/Schiff’s stain for DNA. This test uses Schiff’s reagent to detect aldehyde groups or CHO-. From the results we will be able to determine whether or not DNA is present and how much DNA the organism contains. If the reagent turns pink/red DNA is present. If the reagent does not have a color change DNA is not present. Biuret’s test would then be conducted to test for proteins. A positive test would be represented by a purple color in the solution. If the test yields a red/brown color change the test for proteins is inconclusive, but there are sugars present. Jess R.- the