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Iron-eating Bug Found to Thrive in 121C Heat
shobadobs writes "A story in the Independent reports that a microorganism appropriately referred to as 'Strain 121' has been found capable of thriving, with its colony size doubling, at a heat of 121 degrees Celsius, eight degrees more than the previously recorded maximum temperature that an organism can survive. This deep-sea volcanic vent creature was found on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and it feeds off of iron." Luckily it's only a microorganism. At first glance I thought scientists might have discovered a real-life rust monster.
Iron-eating bug found to thrive in 121C heat
By Steve Connor Science Editor
15 August 2030
If microbes could scoff, this one would certainly laugh at the people who complained about the searing temperatures last week, which reached a record 38.3C (100.7F) in Gravesend, Kent.
The microbe in question has been found to thrive at 121C (248.8F) - some 8 degrees Celsius higher than the previous recorded maximum temperature that a living organism could survive.
The newly discovered micro-organism does not yet have a scientific name but its finders call it "Strain 121". The researchers, Kazem Kashefi and Derek Lovley from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, found the tiny creature in a deep-sea volcanic vent on the bed of the Pacific Ocean, where temperatures reach 400C.
They put Strain 121 in a hot oven to find that it enjoyed the experience - colonies continued to double in size at 121C.
Dr Lovely, whose study is published today in the journal Science, said Strain 121, which eats iorn, might give an insight into the conditions that led to the evolution of the first lifeforms more than 3.8 billion years ago.
LOL, I love that quote.
Seriously though, the organism doesn't just chew through iron like a termite through wood. It only feeds off microscopic (smaller than itself) pieces of iron, such as wandering particles/shavings. Even if it were able to eat through an iron surface, its' small size would prevent it from doing much immediate damage.
That would be 121 Celsius there Mensa...as opposed to the 130 fahrenheit that your runner bug survives at, which is only 54.4C
"Ladies and gentlemen, uh, we've just lost the picture, but what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has apparently been taken over- 'conquered' if you will- by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive Earthman or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves." (Deep Space Homer)
No idea about IN SOVIET RUSSIA though mate.
J.
You're only jealous cos the little penguins are talking to me.
It's a Kent Brockman quote. See this Simpsons episode.
The unmodified quote comes from Simpsons, in an episode where Homer goes on a space shuttle, and manages to smash the ant-farm (which the astronauts would be studying in space). Kent (the reporter) then broadcasts from the ground: "Ladies and gentlemen, er, we've just lost the picture, but, uh, what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has been taken over -- "conquered", if you will -- by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain, there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves."
In Soviet Russia jokes originated from a coldwar era soviet comidian, Yakov Smirnov. This pagehas a more detailed description, as well as some of the original quotes.
As someone said above, the pressure at that water depth probably contributes to it's survival.
LordBodak's journal.
The original news release, with mpeg videos, is available from the National Science Foundation website. Enjoy.
Apparently, a russian comedian named Yakov Smirnoff made a lot of jokes where he took, for example, a sentence and switched the subject and object around, removed a few words, and prepended "In Soviet Russia".
Like the example from the everything2.com article above:
- The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
becomesJust FYI.
www.6502asm.com - Code 6502 assembly or.. DIE!!
The discovery of new extremophiles is very important to biotech.
A discussion of the various discoveries from extremophiles is here. I'm going to focus on one process, made possible by genes from hyperthermophiles from deep ocean vents. One process, PCR (Polymer Chain Reaction), the technology that allows us to create large batches of identical DNA, depends upon polymerase taken from these organisms.
The reason is this: in order to for PCR to work, a solution of polymerase and the desired DNA sequence is heated so that the DNA will quickly uncoil, allowing the polymerase to go to work - copying each strand of DNA present, doubling the amount of DNA. The solution is cooled, and then the process repeats, doubling the amount of DNA each time. Unfortunately, "normal" polymerase quickly breaks down at the best temperatures for this process.
Extremophile polymerase changes all of this, since it's perfectly happy to operate at these high temperatures.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
I read the actual article in Science Magazine and it says they don't divide below ~80 degrees C.
I was shocked when I opened /. this morning to find that a news story I posted on the UMass News Office web site had made it here. I work for web development here on the UMass Amherst campus, and it's great that there's finally some research that's getting press. If anyone's interested, the original news release out of umass can be found here: http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/archive/2003/08140 3microbe.html
Hmm, aren't microorganisms eating iron and surviving in ovens are harder to extinct than some cm long creatures with hands and feet?
Well, they're certainly easier to 'extinct' than first-posters with bad grammar....
Proteins can be stabilised by increasing the number of S-S cross links from pairs of cysteines. Also the immediate intracellular environment matters and the precise nature of the proteins themselves - some of which can be amazingly stable.
Still, I agree with the sentiment. I grew some hot spring bacteria myself for protein studies back in the early 80's and even though these *only* grew at 80 degrees C I remember looking at the incubator (i.e. adapter oven) and wondering how the little buggers ever managed to do that.
Here is the newscientist link:
9 99 94058
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns
Just wait till someone finds a living creature that can withstand several hundred degrees ..... it'd have a real chance of surviving a fire ..... now that would be scary.
Prions -- the deformed proteins responsible for Mad Cow, CJD, and related spongiform encephalopathies -- can survive autoclaving (steam at high pressure).
Autoclaved surgical instruments (e.g. eye-surgery scalpels) have been found to transmit CJD between patients. This means that the tiniest trace of protein on a knife blade isn't denatured.
-kgj
The pressure at any depth in the ocean can be approximated by assuming 1 atmosphere of pressure for every 33ft of depth. So, to calculate the pressure, divide the depth by 33 and add 1 to account for atmospheric pressure. Then, multiply by 14.696 psi/atm to get the pressure in psi. I don't know at what depth these things live, but the pressure has to be extreme.
I would think some sort of ferrous sulfur compound. IANAChemist, but I thought I remember reading about volcanic vent extremophiles using sulfur for oxidation instead of oxygen.
Us: eat carbon, breathe oxygen
Them: eat iron, breathe sulfur
It's like the Odd Couple of evolution! So, are we the neat freaks or the slobs? I put my money on the latter...
The short story was "A Piece of Wood" by Ray Bradbury, in the book "Long After Midnight", just FYI.
The big print giveth and the small print taketh away - Tom Waits
By the magic of Google, I think it's Brockman of The Simpsons... ...SNIP...
No idea about IN SOVIET RUSSIA though mate.
Strangely enough, that soviet russia joke originates from Yakov Smirnoff. He is performing now in Branson, Missouri, which was featured in an episode of the Simpsons, with Yakov himself making an appearance in the family's onstage performance with other Branson performers that "most people think are dead."
He even gets the last laugh in the production number, Ode to Branson, with a play on his 'in soviet russia' joke, but I can't seem to find the line at the moment.
Incidentally, the producer of The Simpsons, Mike Scully, used to write jokes for standup comics, including Yakov Smirnoff.
Yakov's character sings:
::curtain closes::
"In Soviet Union, review watches you!"
I remember seeing some underwater footage on the Blue Planet series (very informative, if you ever get a chance to watch any of them). From what I recall, there are various thermal vents on the floor of the deep sea, which is about a mile down. Where these vents occur in the sea bed, you find huge plumes of extraordinarily hot water shooting up from the floor. It is only under the immense pressure at that depth that the water doesn't become steam. Anyway, while this Strain 121 critter wasn't mentioned in the Blue Planet movies, various other animals were, complete with footage of all kinds of little things moving around and appearing very active. The presence of a thermal vent on the ocean floor is very much like an oasis in the desert, and it attracts all kinds of weirdo life forms.
As far as pressure goes, for every 33 feet of water depth you add, it's 1 ATM greater pressure than on the surface. So if you're 33 feet below the surface, the pressure is twice that of being on dry land. If you're 66 feet below the surface, it's about 3 times the pressure. For every 33 feet down, you'll add another multiple. If you're about a mile down, that corresponds (approximately) to 33 x 160, which means that the pressure down there is about 160 times that of what we're used to on dry land.
I'll add that, according to the Blue Planet series, there are only a handful (maybe 5 total?) of submarine craft in the entire world that are capable of withstanding the intense pressures of the deep sea, which makes the continued exploration of the deep sea an extremely slow and patient process.
According to the Boston Globe, "Strain 121 Reproduces [only] at temperatures of 185 to 250 degrees F", while they can survive up to 266 Degress F