Desulforudis audaxviator

Desulforudis audaxviator
Desulforudis audaxviator
Systematics
Department : Firmicutes incertae sedis incertae sedis incertae sedis Genre : Desulforudis Type : Desulforudis audaxviator
Scientific name of the  genus
Desulforudis
Chivian et al. 2008
Scientific name of the  species
Desulforudis audaxviator
Chivian et al. 2008

Desulforudis audaxviator is a bacterium that lives in the groundwater at depths of 1.5 km to 3 km below the surface of the earth. What is remarkable about this bacterium is that its metabolism is not only chemotrophic , i.e. without sunlight, but thatno organic compounds are requiredas a hydrogen source . Thebacterium generates theenergy for a proton gradient by reducing sulfate to sulfide. Only the electrons of the water radiolytically splitby the radiation of radioactive elements are availablein hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide . The metabolism and energy generation are therefore completely independent of sunlight and other chemical energy sources and are based on geological processes in the earth's interior . Desulforudis audaxviator is a typical representative of endolithic living organisms.

These Gram-positive bacteria were found in the groundwater below a depth of 1.5 km. The deep wells found in gold and platinum mines in the Witwatersrand ( South Africa instead). In a first taxonomic classification, they were placed under the Firmicutes . According to the bacteria system , they are not yet recognized as a species, but rather have the status of Candidatus .

The specific epithet audaxviator comes from a quote from Jules Verne's journey to the center of the earth . The hero of the story, Professor Lidenbrock, finds a secret inscription that reads in Latin : Descende, audax viator, et terrestre centrum attinges (descend, daring traveler, and you will get to the center of the earth). The geoscientist Tullis C. Onstott , who at Princeton University with geomicrobiology deals, suggested the name.

habitat

The habitats of these bacteria have been isolated from the earth's surface for around 25 million years. At a depth of 2800 meters, from which water samples were examined, there is a temperature of around 60 ° C, there is hardly any free oxygen. The genome of the bacterium, consisting of 2175 genes, enables the organism to maintain all life processes even under long-term isolation from light and air on the earth's surface. In addition, there are no other living beings in this ecosystem . Desulforudis audaxviator is the only living component in this system. However, it has been shown that the nematode Halicephalobus mephisto , which also occurs in extreme habitats, prefers to feed on Desulforudis audaxviator in the laboratory if it has a choice (alternative: E. coli ).

It is assumed that similar life processes could also take place inside other celestial bodies under similar geological conditions as on earth.

swell

• Li-Hung Lin, Pei-Ling Wang, Douglas Rumble, Johanna Lippmann-Pipke, Erik Boice, Lisa M. Pratt, Barbara Sherwood Lollar, Eoin L. Brodie, Terry C. Hazen, Gary L. Andersen, Todd Z. DeSantis, Duane P. Moser, Dave Kershaw, Tullis C. Onstott: Long-Term Sustainability of a High-Energy, Low-Diversity Crustal Biome . In: Science . tape 314 , no. 5798 , October 20, 2006, p. 479-482 , doi : 10.1126 / science.1127376 .
• Dylan Chivian, Eoin L. Brodie, Eric J. Alm, David E. Culley, Paramvir S. Dehal, Todd Z. DeSantis, Thomas M. Gihring, Alla Lapidus, Li-Hung Lin, Stephen R. Lowry, Duane P. Moser , Paul M. Richardson, Gordon Southam, Greg Wanger, Lisa M. Pratt, Gary L. Andersen, Terry C. Hazen, Fred J. Brockman, Adam P. Arkin, Tullis C. Onstott: Environmental Genomics Reveals a Single-Species Ecosystem Deep Within Earth . In: Science . tape 322 , no. 5899 , October 10, 2008, p. 275-278 , doi : 10.1126 / science.1155495 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jean Euzéby, Aidan C. Parte: "Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator". In: List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature ( LPSN ). Retrieved January 4, 2014 . 
2. ↑ Dagmar Röhrlich: Manuscript for the broadcast: Life in the Inferno . In: Deutschlandfunk . May 27, 2012 ( deutschlandfunk.de ).