A new DNA analysis of soil in South American volcanoes has revealed unique microbes that are capable of living in extreme conditions. These organisms are believed to be capable of surviving even in Mars.
Researchers discovered bacteria, fungi and a simple organism known as archaea living in a Martian-like landscape. The landscape is known for its inhospitable soils on the planet. "We haven't formally identified or characterized the species but these are very different than anything else that has been cultured," Ryan Lynch, a microbiologist with the University of Colorado in Boulder said. He is also one of the finders of the organisms. "Genetically, they're at least 5 percent different than anything else in the [DNA] database of 2.5 million sequences," he added.
The organisms found in the South American volcanoes are not only capable of surviving in Mars-like conditions but can also derive their energies in different unknown ways. The soil samples were collected from some of the tallest volcanoes of South America. "In this area, the soil is "so depleted of nutrients that nitrogen levels in the scientists' samples were below detection limits," and ultraviolet radiation reaches levels up to "twice as intense as in a low-elevation desert," said Steve Schmidt, a professor in the CU-Boulder ecology and evolutionary biology department. Schmidt led the team that collected soils from South American volcanoes.
How the microbes manage to survive in such difficult conditions is still a mystery to the researchers. But they believe the microbes are capable of generating energy by means of chemical reactions. It can extract carbon and energy from gases like carbon monoxide. All their findings has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
