Newly found microbe can take a lot of heat

The Boston Globe ^ | 08/15/03 | Carey Goldberg

[bedolido]

A newly discovered microscopic creature from the deep sea can survive in heat of up to 266 degrees Fahrenheit, a new record for life on earth, University of Massachusetts researchers reported yesterday.

The one-celled organism not only lived but grew successfully at 121 degrees centigrade, the temperature inside doctors' sterilization equipment, long believed to be hot enough to kill any life form.

[HitmanLV]

"This is like breaking the 4-minute mile -- it's a real benchmark," said Matthew Kane...

FYI, this is an interesting remark. One thing I found fascinating about the 4-minute mile barrier is not nearly as well historically regarded. That is, when the 4 minute mile barrier was broken, about a dozen other people ran the 4 minute mile withing a year of the record-breaking event.

The lesson? The barriers are in the mind. while some things are physically impossible, many limits on accomplishment and achievemnt are entirely an illusion.

[Wonder Warthog]

VVEEEERRRYYY EEENNNTTTEEERREEESSSTTTIIINNNGGG, and NOT stupid.

It certainly provides an experimental underpinning for the possibility of "deep-earth" life, and the likelihood that life processess actually started even before the planet was fully consolidated. Maybe life DIDN'T start in "tidal pools", after all.

[firewalk]

bttt

[Ispy4u]

This microbe is truly a wonder considering that water boils at 100 degrees C at 1 atmosphere. I know that the added pressure at sea depth and in an autoclave will raise the boiling point much higher but that temp alone is deadly to everything else we know.

[js1138]

for your ping list

[aruanan]

That means there may be organisms living far deeper beneath the earth's surface than previously thought, as they could survive the higher temperatures nearer the planet's core.

Than previously thought? The Deep, Hot Biosphere by Thomas Gold, July 1992.

[Wonder Warthog]

From Gold:

"Bacteria can live at higher temperatures than any other known organisms; 110 °C has been verified, and some biologists consider that the upper temperature limit may be as high as 150 °C (providing always that the pressure is sufficient to raise the boiling point of water above this temperature)."

Yes, but Gold's theory has pretty much been without experimental foundation. This discovery provides that experimental verification.

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[ChewedGum]

Love seeing your "REP" posts all over (although I always have to go lookup what each one means again).

So my question is - How did they figure this out anyways. Some joker in the lab says "Hey, I wonder what heat this organism can stand..." and they are off? They know it's more than any other organism can stand? Did they test all the other ones too? (Sorry, I'm in a wierd mood today)

Gum

[coloradan]

Maybe they autoclaved some glassware and then discovered that the bugs weren't killed by this process.

[aruanan]

Yes, but Gold's theory has pretty much been without experimental foundation. This discovery provides that experimental verification.

Read The Deep, Hot Biosphere. There was quite a bit of experimental verification. This is just another bit and it's just pushing the high temp envelope a little higher. There are already commercial polymerases out there, such as Pfu,which we use in the lab, from hyperthermophile organisms that live at >100C.

[PatrickHenry]

HOT STUFF! [This ping list is for the evolution side of evolution threads, and sometimes for other science topics. FReepmail me to be added or dropped.]

[js1138]

hot pings.

[Pyro7480]

"Will 121 be the upper limit of life?" asked Dr. Craig Cary, an expert on high-temperature extremophiles at the University of Delaware.

My alma mater! The Department of Marine Studies there is top notch.

BUMP

[Sentis]

The Archaea lifeforms are amazing. They can exist anywhere from space to two miles beneath the surface of the earth.

[Wonder Warthog]

"They can exist anywhere from space to two miles beneath the surface of the earth."

Well, I don't know if they were archaea, but the little algae that used to live in the bottom of the cobalt-60 irradiation pit/pool impressed the hell out of ME.

[Ichneumon]

So my question is - How did they figure this out anyways. Some joker in the lab says "Hey, I wonder what heat this organism can stand..." and they are off? They know it's more than any other organism can stand?

Well, it was found near a hot deep-sea vent, so I'm sure the question of "what temperature ranges can it withstand" was a natural one to ask.

[Consort]

Could be Venusian. What's the temperature on Venus?

[bedolido]

Could be Venusian. What's the temperature on Venus?

Venus's Temperature