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Deep Biosphere Harbors Active, Growing Communities of Microorganisms

By Guest PostJuly 9, 2013Environmentamino acids, archaea, bacteria, bill orsi, biochemical mechanisms, carbon, cell, cell populations, data analysis, deep biosphere, ecologist, ecosystem, fungi, glenn christman, global biogeochemical cycles, messenger rna, metatranscriptome, microorganisms, model, molecule atp, mrna, nitrogen cycling, ocean drilling program, sulfate reduction, ud, university of delaware, virginia edgcomb, whoi

The deep biosphere—the realm of sediments far below the seafloor—harbors a vast ecosystem of bacteria, archaea, and fungi that are actively metabolizing, proliferating, and moving, according a new study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Delaware (UD).

“This is the first molecular evidence for active cell division in the deep biosphere,” says WHOI postdoctoral investigator Bill Orsi, who was the lead author on the study. Previous studies and models had suggested cells were alive, but whether the cells were actually dividing or not had remained elusive. (more…)

Life underground

By Guest PostJune 14, 2013Environmentactive bacteria, beneath, bioinformatician, carbon, deep biosphere, ecosystem, Environment, fungi, genetic material, heavy pressure, jennifer biddle, life underground, messenger rna, metatranscriptome, microbes, microscopic organisms, million year old, mrna, nucleus containing cells, nutrient sources, ocean, ocean drilling program, oxygen, seafloor, sediment, teresa messmore, university of delaware, virginia edgcomb, volcano, whoi, william orsi

Active microbes discovered far beneath seafloor in ancient ocean sediment

Microbes are living more than 500 feet beneath the seafloor in 5 million-year-old sediment, according to new findings by researchers at the University of Delaware and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Genetic material in mud from the bottom of the ocean — called the deep biosphere —revealed an ecosystem of active bacteria, fungi and other microscopic organisms at depths deeper than a skyscraper is high. The findings were published in Nature on June 12. (more…)

Carbon’s role in atmosphere formation

By Guest PostApril 27, 2013Sciencealberto saal, atmosphere, atmosphere formation, atmospheric evolution, brown, brown university, carbon, carbon monoxide, carnegie institution, diane wetzel, erik hauri, evolution of planet, greenhouse conditions, high greenhouse potential, iron carbonyl, liquid water, magma, malcolm rutherford, mars, mars history, methane, methane gas, northwestern university, oxygen fugacity, role, steven jacobsen, subsurface carbon, volcanism, Washington

A new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the way carbon moves from within a planet to the surface plays a big role in the evolution of a planet’s atmosphere. If Mars released much of its carbon as methane, for example, it might have been warm enough to support liquid water.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study of how carbon is trapped and released by iron-rich volcanic magma offers clues about the early atmospheric evolution on Mars and other terrestrial bodies. (more…)

Foundations of Carbon-Based Life Leave Little Room for Error

By Guest PostApril 2, 2013Sciencealpha particles, carbon, carbon 12, carbon based life, dean lee, deutsche forschungsgemeinschaft, electron volts, elementary particles, elements, evgeny epelbaum, helium 4 nuclei, hermann krebs, hoyle state, juelich supercomputer centre, kev, light quark mass, north Carolina, numerical lattice, oxygen, quarks, room for error, specific energy, state university, timo laehde, ulf g

Life as we know it is based upon the elements of carbon and oxygen. Now a team of physicists, including one from North Carolina State University, is looking at the conditions necessary to the formation of those two elements in the universe. They’ve found that when it comes to supporting life, the universe leaves very little margin for error.

Both carbon and oxygen are produced when helium burns inside of giant red stars. Carbon-12, an essential element we’re all made of, can only form when three alpha particles, or helium-4 nuclei, combine in a very specific way. The key to formation is an excited state of carbon-12 known as the Hoyle state, and it has a very specific energy – measured at 379 keV (or 379,000 electron volts) above the energy of three alpha particles. Oxygen is produced by the combination of another alpha particle and carbon. (more…)

Dead Forests Release Less Carbon Into Atmosphere Than Expected

By Guest PostMarch 25, 2013Environmentalaska, atmosphere, boulder, carbon, carbon dioxide, climate, climate change, CO2, david moore, dead forests release, dendroctonus ponderosae, double whammy, earth, greenhouse gas, Mexico, mountain pine beetles, NASA, nicole trahan, niwot ridge, North America, organic compounds, outbreaks, photosynthesis, pine beetle outbreaks, russell monson, soil microbes, surface, university of arizona, university of colorado, warmer conditions

Billions of trees killed in the wake of mountain pine beetle infestations, ranging from Mexico to Alaska, have not resulted in a large spike in carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, contrary to predictions, a UA-led study has found.

Massive tree die-offs release less carbon into the atmosphere than previously thought, new research led by the University of Arizona suggests.

Across the world, trees are dying in increasing numbers, most likely in the wake of a climate changing toward drier and warmer conditions, scientists suspect. In western North America, outbreaks of mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae) have killed billions of trees from Mexico to Alaska over the last decade. (more…)

NASA Rover Finds Conditions Once Suited for Ancient Life on Mars

By Guest PostMarch 12, 2013Scienceancient life, ancient wet environment, bedrock, calcium sulfate, carbon, chemical energy source, chemical ingredients, chemin, chlorinated forms, condition, david blake, gale crater, hydrogen, instruments, john grotzinger, john klein, life, living microbes, mars, mars exploration program, methane, michael meyer, micro-organisms, mildly alkaline, mudstone, nasa rover, neutral, nitrogen, oxygen, paul mahaffy, phosphorus, powder, presence, red planet, rocknest, sam, soil, stream bed, sulfur, yellowknife bay

PASADENA, Calif. –– An analysis of a rock sample collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover shows ancient Mars could have supported living microbes.

Scientists identified sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon — some of the key chemical ingredients for life — in the powder Curiosity drilled out of a sedimentary rock near an ancient stream bed in Gale Crater on the Red Planet last month.

“A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “From what we know now, the answer is yes.” (more…)

Fungi, Fungi Everywhere

By Guest PostFebruary 16, 2013Environmentantibiotics, archaea, bacteria, carbon, coasts of oregon, contamination, deep sea fungi, e coli bacteria, elements, Environment, fungi, fungi population, genetic material, inactive spores, industrial applicable enzymes, jennifer biddle, microbes bacteria, namibia, ocean environments, oceanographic institution, organism, peru, ribosomal ribonucleic acid, rrna, seafloor, sequence, single celled, strong indication, sunlight, university of delaware, virginia edgcomb, william orsi, woods hole

New research shows fungi living beneath the seafloor are widespread

Fungi living beneath the seafloor are widespread in ocean environments around the world, according to a new paper by scientists at the University of Delaware and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

“They’re ubiquitous,” said co-author Jennifer Biddle, assistant professor of marine biosciences at UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. “They are everywhere.” (more…)

UA Scientists Help Discover Most Abundant Ocean Virus

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2013Scienceabundant ocean virus, biogeochemical cycle, bonnie hurwitz, carbon, carbon cycle, carbon dioxide, cellular biology, DNA, global cycle, human genome researcher, j craig venter, marine, marine bacterium sar11, matthew sullivan, methods, molecular, most abundant organism, old fashioned research, oregon state university, oxygen, pelagiphages, phage research lab, planet, sar11 bacteria, stephen giovannoni, tucson, university of arizona, viral diversity, viral infection

Researchers have discovered four previously unknown viruses that infect the Earth’s most abundant organism, the marine bacterium SAR11. Because of their huge numbers, these tiny players have critical roles in the global cycle of carbon and other nutrients.

The greatest battle in Earth’s history has been going on for hundreds of millions of years, isn’t over yet, and until now no one knew it existed, scientists reported today in the journal Nature.

In one corner is the Earth’s most abundant organism: SAR11, an ocean-living bacterium that survives where most other cells would die and plays a major role in the planet’s carbon cycle. It had been theorized that SAR11 was so small and widespread that it must be invulnerable to attack. (more…)

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