Friday, 20th October 2006 (4469 views)

A unique strain of self-sustaining bacteria has been discovered inhabiting a South African gold mine, researchers have announced.

Existing almost two miles under the surface, the bacteria – called Firmicutes – has been described as the first to be dependent on geologically produced sulphur and hydrogen while not needing energy from the sun.

This landmark discovery is documented in the most recent issue of Science and has got scientists discussing the remarkable possibility of a similar strand of bacteria existing on other planets.

"We know how isolated the bacteria have been because our analyses show that the water they live in is very old and hasn’t been diluted by surface water," said National Taiwan University student Li-Hung Lin who undertook much of the analysis work on the project.

"In addition, we found that the hydrocarbons in the local environment did not come from living organisms, as is usual, and that the source of the hydrogen needed for their respiration comes from the decomposition of water by radioactive decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium."

The microbes are believed to have thrived at the site for millions of years, leading scientists to ponder whether similar bacterial strains exist elsewhere.

 

« Back to the stories

 

The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited © and do not represent the views or opinions of the World Gold Council.