We have isolated numerous cold deep-sea adapted microorganisms (piezophilic, formerly referred to as "barophilic" bacteria) using deep-sea research submersibles. Many of the isolates are novel psychrophilic bacteria, and we have identified several new piezophilic species, i.e., Photobacterium profundum, Shewanella violacea, Moritella japonica, Moritella yayanosii, Psychromonas kaikoi, and Colwellia piezophila. These piezophiles are involving to five genera in gamma-Proteobacteria subgroup and produce significant amounts of unsaturated fatty acids in their cell membrane fractions to maintain the membrane fluidity in cold and high-pressure environments. Piezophilic microorganisms have been identified in many deep-sea bottoms of many of the world oceans. Therefore, these microbes are well distributed on our planet. One of the isolated deep-sea piezophiles, Shewanella violacea strain DSS12 is a psychrophilic, moderately piezophilic bacterium from a sediment sample collected at the Ryukyu Trench (depth: 5,110 m), which grows optimally at 30 MPa and $8^{\circ}C$ but also grows at atmospheric pressure (0.1 MPa) and $8^{\circ}C$. We have examined this strain to elucidate the molecular basis for gene regulation at different pressure conditions because this strain is useful as a model bacterium for comparing the various features of bacterial physiology under pressure conditions. In addition, we completed the sequencing of the entire genome of this piezophilic bacterium and we expect that many biotechnologically useful genes will be identified from the genome information.

Deep-sea bacteria are adapted to extreme environments, such as high pressures and cold temperatures. We have isolated many piezophiles which grow well even under high pressures from deep-sea sediment. Shewanella violacea DSS12 and Moritella japonica DSK1 have the ability to grow at up to 70 MPa, and those bacteria have unique mechanisms of gene expression in response to high pressure conditions. The combination of gene expression systems in piezophiles, like the high pressure-dependent promoters and GFP reporter gene, may reveal highly fluorescent cells when exposed to high hydrostatic pressure conditions. It is predicted that a novel bio-sensing system can be made to probe high pressure environments using living bacteria. First, gene transformation into our piezophiles, strains DSS12 and DSK1, were examined. Eschericha coli S17-1 was used for bacterial conjugation with those piezophiles. As a result, the broad host range vector, pKT231, and the shuttle vector, pTH10, were successfully introduced to DSS12 and DSK1, respectively. Next, The pressure regulated promoters from DSS12 and DSK1 were cloned into proper vectors and combined with GFP as a reporter gene downstream of each promoter. The transformants of DSK1 and DSS12 with the recombinant pTH10 and pKT231 plasmid, which has cadA and glnA promoters (each of them is a pressure regulated promoter from DSK1 and DSS12, respectively) and GFP, were grown under high pressure and gene expression of GFP promoted by 50 MPa pressure was confirmed. This is a critical point to create a pressure-sensing bacteria, as the "High Pressure Glow Cells", which will indicate the level of environmental pressure using fluorescence of GFP as a reporter gene.

All living organisms use numerous signal-transduction pathways to sense and respond to their environments and thereby survive and proliferate in a range of biological niches. Molecular dissection of these signalling networks has increased our understanding of these communication processes and provides a platform for therapeutic intervention when these pathways malfunction in disease states, including infection. Owing to the expanding availability of sequenced genomes, a wealth of genetic and molecular tools and the conservation of signalling networks, members of the fungal kingdom serve as excellent model systems for more complex, multicellular organisms. Here, we employed Cryptococcus neoformans as a model system to understand how fungal-signalling circuits operate at the molecular level to sense and respond to a plethora of environmental stresses, including osmoticshock, UV, high temperature, oxidative stress and toxic drugs/metabolites. The stress-activated p38/Hog1 MAPK pathway is structurally conserved in many organisms as diverse as yeast and mammals, but its regulation is uniquely specialized in a majority of clinical Cryptococcus neoformans serotype A and D strains to control differentiation and virulence factor regulation. C. neoformans Hog1 MAPK is controlled by Pbs2 MAPK kinase (MAPKK). The Pbs2-Hog1 MAPK cascade is controlled by the fungal "two-component" system that is composed of a response regulator, Ssk1, and multiple sensor kinases, including two-component.like (Tco) 1 and Tco2. Tco1 and Tco2 play shared and distinct roles in stress responses and drug sensitivity through the Hog1 MAPK system. Furthermore, each sensor kinase mediates unique cellular functions for virulence and morphological differentiation. We also identified and characterized the Ssk2 MAPKKK upstream of the MAPKK Pbs2 and the MAPK Hog1 in C. neoformans. The SSK2 gene was identified as a potential component responsible for differential Hog1 regulation between the serotype D sibling f1 strains B3501 and B3502 through comparative analysis of their meiotic map with the meiotic segregation of Hog1-dependent sensitivity to the fungicide fludioxonil. Ssk2 is the only polymorphic component in the Hog1 MAPK module, including two coding sequence changes between the SSK2 alleles in B3501 and B3502 strains. To further support this finding, the SSK2 allele exchange completely swapped Hog1-related phenotypes between B3501 and B3502 strains. In the serotype A strain H99, disruption of the SSK2 gene dramatically enhanced capsule biosynthesis and mating efficiency, similar to pbs2 and hog1 mutations. Furthermore, ssk2, pbs2, and hog1 mutants are all hypersensitive to a variety of stresses and completely resistant to fludioxonil. Taken together, these findings indicate that Ssk2 is the critical interface protein connecting the two-component system and the Pbs2-Hog1 pathway in C. neoformans.