A CU-Boulder-led team has discovered some rare, primitive microorganisms on high volcanoes in South America that may be fueled by drifting gases in the region rather than photosynthesis. Credit: University of Colorado
Posted on 06/13/2012 6:31:04 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
From the University of Colorado at Boulder, proof that life can inhabit just about anywhere.
CU-Boulder-led team finds microbes in extreme environment on South American volcanoes
A CU-Boulder-led team has discovered some rare, primitive microorganisms on high volcanoes in South America that may be fueled by drifting gases in the region rather than photosynthesis. Credit: University of Colorado
A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder looking for organisms that eke out a living in some of the most inhospitable soils on Earth has found a hardy few.
A new DNA analysis of rocky soils in the Martian-like landscape on some volcanoes in South America has revealed a handful of bacteria, fungi and other rudimentary organisms called archaea, which seem to have a different way of converting energy than their cousins elsewhere in the world.
“We haven’t formally identified or characterized the species,” said Ryan Lynch, a CU-Boulder doctoral student involved in the study. “But these are very different than anything else that has been cultured. Genetically, they’re at least 5 percent different than anything else in the DNA database of 2.5 million sequences.”
Life gets little encouragement on the incredibly dry slopes of the tallest volcanoes in the Atacama region, where CU-Boulder Professor Steve Schmidt and his team collected soil samples. Much of the sparse snow that falls on the terrain sublimates back to the atmosphere soon after it hits the ground, and the soil is so depleted of nutrients that nitrogen levels in the scientists’ samples were below detection limits. next day.
(Excerpt) Read more at wattsupwiththat.com ...
Amaing.
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Thanks Ernest. Extremophiles / panspermia / ET life ping.
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Amazing!
From the comments:
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tadchem says:
A variety of methods of chemosynthesis are known, having been discovered in cave, hot springs, underwater volcanic vents, etc. It is arguable that these preceded photosynthesis. Google “extremophiles”…
Once again, our ‘estimates’ of what ‘life’ can adapt to or take advantage of, change.
Scientists are becoming more and more confident that we’ll find primitive lifeforms on other planets and moons in our solar system, because of finds like these.
Ever hear of the worms that live inside solid ice in the arctic? It’s true. Life can find a way in some of the strangest ecological niches.
Ernest, thanks for the Ping to this interesting article.
Perhaps the find can be viewed by some as a worth while expenditure in grant monies.
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