Posted on 01/09/2007 12:29:24 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Archaea are single-celled organisms that live under extreme environmental conditions, such as the high temperatures and crushing pressures below the seafloor. If heat-loving archaea were the first life on the planet, they would have needed a usable source of nitrogen, Baross says. Known as FS406-22 because of the fluid and culture samples it came from, the archaeon discovered by the UW researchers is the first from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent that can fix nitrogen, says Mehta, first author on the Science paper. It was collected at Axial Volcano on the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the coast of Washington and Oregon. Fixing nitrogen at 92 C smashes the previous record by 28 C, a record held by Methanothermococcus thermolithotrophicus, an archaeon that was isolated from geothermally heated sand near an Italian beach and fixes nitrogen at temperatures up to 64 C... The genetic analysis shows FS406-22 as having one of the deepest-rooted genes and the most primordial characteristics in terms of gene sequence, Baross says. "We propose that among diazotrophic archaea, the nitrogenase from FS406-22 might have retained the most ancient characteristics, possibly derived from a nitrogenase present in the last common ancestor of modern life," the co-authors conclude in their report.
(Excerpt) Read more at uwnews.washington.edu ...
An approximately 2-foot-tall chimney on Axial Volcano vents hot hydrothermal fluids like the ones collected by University of Washington researchers in the search of archaea capable of fixing nitrogen at high temperatures. [Courtesy of the NOAA Vents Program]
I'm so wasted...
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
gesundheit!
Soooo...maybe life on Venus IS possible.
LOL!
Pass the N2!
There was an article in the Houston Chronicle years ago about a liquid nitrogen tanker that had a wreck and the Fire Dept. was on site in case the N2 started leaking and caused a fire.
Needless to say the "highly flammable" N2 didn't leak so there was no fire.
The surface temperature of Venus is 740 kelvin (872.33 F), so I'd say that's mighty unlikely. Some have speculated that Venus has microbial life in its upper atmosphere.
Venus may sustain life, say scientists
The Telegraph (U.K.) | 09/26/2002 | David Derbyshire
Posted on 09/25/2002 9:30:44 PM EDT by Pokey78
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/757376/posts
Venus clouds 'might harbour life' (Global Warming Apparently Not An Issue)
BBC News | Tuesday, 25 May, 2004 | Martin Redfern
Posted on 05/26/2004 12:09:24 PM EDT by presidio9
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1142574/posts
:')
92C is way hotter than my processors....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
