Fossils from the time of Pangey. And alive!
A microbe called Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator is a monospecific genus of bacteria. It is about four micrometers in length and thrives at depths of 1.5–3 kilometers below the earth’s surface. His life is linked to the radioactive decay of minerals in the surrounding rock. Credit: Wikipedia, free work.
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Microbes velkeho 4 micrometers discovered team scientists led by Tullis Onstott for v rothis 2008. It happened during searchneither after the existence of life in the gold mine Mponeng. At a depth of 2.8 km below the surface, he detected the presence aliveis matter dependent on chemickIt’s reaction triggeredIt’s radioaktivitou. The driving force local is life decay of uranium present in the surrounding rock. Microbe scientists christened the Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator. Evidence its existence allowed to scientific field called environmental genomics. It happened like this. V depth almost three kilometers scientists picked up with local break approx 5,600 liters of water. Here they filtered, thereby obtained DNA fragments. Not until sequencing obtained fragments of different lengths genetic code started give an idea about bizarreostech lifeto her forms ableIt’s live without oxygen, without lights i without for the usual lives energy sources. Original beforetreasure was that it would be some complex ecosystem tied to each other different species narrowly specialized microbes. The idea of a community where he does it and he does this, she took fast for your own. Upreached I knowthat 99.9 percent of the DNA came from with single organism – bacteriae. A that ta slight remainder, is probably just contaminantí, which occurred in arre when taking water, or v laboratoryi of airborne dust when working with samples.
Interesting on discovered bacteria was that has a relatively large genome. U genes encoding proteins, scientists came up with the number 2 157. Rowa of them is the sameáas they occur i u microbes called archea. I their specialty is the ability to succeed in extreme conditions.
From previous edresearchcarried out on the arches are already indidwhich gene for what serves. WITH gene sequences of the deep-sea microbe was possible read what enzymatic systems it is revealed organism equipped with, and what he is capable of.
The Mponeng site in South Africa is the site of the first discovery of the microorganism Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator. It is a gold mine, which is considered to be the deepest in the world, the shafts reach a depth of four kilometers and the descent to the bottom takes over an hour. Credit: JMK. Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
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He can for example to acquire dissolved carbon carbon dioxide. He has apparatus pro nitrogen fixation and reduction sIran. The source of hydrogen needed for respiration for the bacteria is the decomposition of water due to the radioactive decomposition of uranium, thorium and potassium.. In order not to make a mistake, even though it is said to feed on radiation, this is not entirely true. He can’t do without it, but he uses the fact that radjoins in himrnother productuje compoundsY open, until you bacteria used as a source their energy. Other attractions associated with this life are that ofprevails a temperature of up to 60 ° C and that in presence of oxygen in a flash hyne.
As we have already said, the discovery was made in depth of almost three kilometers. In a water pocket that was completely surrounded by impermeable rock. Analyzes local the waters showed that it was not contaminated with surface water po millions of years. That means i local life had no contact with the earth’s surface a millionY flight. Plus i geny bacteria indicative of livelihood confirmíthat contact with oxygen would necessarily be for them deadly.
An image of a device used by scientists from the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences to take samples from the depths of the earth in Death Valley (California, USA). The presence of Candidatus Desulforudis microbes was also proven there. Credit: Duane Moser, Desert Research Institute.
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Why that so do we emphasize Well, because was published in the latest issue of the specialized journal for microbial ecology ISMEa study, whose conclusions they are no less interesting. It says that the organism was also found in neighboring gold mines in Africa but also when drilling into ameasurescmeho a aandjského continent. Placesa they are apart as the crow flies thousands of kilometers away (the farthest is from Africa 16 400km). And in terms of depth occurrence, so always overlapovals kilometers, with a maximum clí kilometersat.
Given that oxygen is a poison for these organisms, then their air transmission, can be exclude. Explain that from continent to continent somehow prokutal underground at a depth of three kilometers, it also does not stand. When we add fact that the organisms that in terms of genomes, as if they had fallen out of sight, the only explanation left. They were created that common ancestor and it must have been relatively recent. But that’s what denies them new finding on different continents. It follows that the common ancestor lived at a time when America, Africa and Eurasia are apart began departmentovat and it already mwe are talking about time existence a continent we call Pangea.
The whole complication is due to geneticists, when on them 126 individual genomesI too clí continentat came out, that they have more than 99.2% nucleotide identity. Simply said, whether it is a microbial African, an American, or an Asian, all they are straight and their evoluce as in this case she literally froze and it already takes her 170 millionat flight. To date, there is no known organism that would behave this way. Researchers speculate that this could be an unprecedented ability for highly accurate replications and correction mechanisms. DAbout existing schemes, as evolution takes place, the behavior of this organism does not fit well, let alone yet Consider that radioactivity is theirs almost daily bread … No wonder scientists have now given them a nickname “AliveIt’s fossilse“. Nit matters jim rightly.
Conclusion
Until recently, we did not years guess that something like that there is. Even today still we don’t know if it has a generation interval of tens of months or whole decades, a while doing so to has creatureit about 10% of all biomass on Earth…
Geneticists have subdued astrophysics. Already here „Microbial darknessor massu planets” found.
Literature
Eric D. Becraft et al, Evolutionary stasis of a deep subsurface microbial lineage, The ISME Journal (2021). DOI: 10.1038 / s41396-021-00965-3
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