2023-11-29 13:50:53
Researcher Magdalena Osburn collects samples at the mine – STEPHEN KENNY/SANFORD UNDERGROUND RESEARCH
MADRID, 29 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
By accessing more than a thousand meters of depth in an old gold mine, scientists have developed the most comprehensive map yet of the elusive and unusual microbes in Earth’s interior.
In total, Northwestern University researchers characterized nearly 600 microbial genomes, some of which are new to science. Of this group, Magdalena Osburn geoscientist, who led the study, says that Most microbes fit into one of two categories: “minimalists”, who have simplified their lives by eating the same thing all day, every day; and the “maximalists,” who are ready and prepared to greedily seize any resource that comes their way.
The study – based in a mine converted into a laboratory in the Black Hills, South Dakota – has been accepted by the journal Environmental Microbiology.
The new study not only expands our knowledge about the microbes that live deep underground, but also suggests potential life that we could one day find on Mars. Because microbes live on resources found within rocks and water that are physically separated from the surface, These organisms could also survive buried in the dusty red depths of Mars.
“The deep subsurface biosphere is huge; it’s just a huge amount of space,” he said. it’s a statement Osburn, associate professor of Earth and planetary sciences in Northwestern’s College of Arts and Sciences.
“We use the mine as a conduit to access that biosphere, which is difficult to reach wherever you approach. The power of our study is that we end up with many genomes, and many from little-studied groups. From that DNA, we can understand What organisms live underground and learn what they might be doing. These are organisms that we often can’t grow in the lab or study in more traditional contexts. “They are often called ‘microbial dark matter’ because we know so little about them.”
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