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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…)

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Deep Biosphere Harbors Active, Growing Communities of Microorganisms

Life underground