Hadesarchaea
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Hadesarchaea, formerly called the South-African Gold Mine Miscellaneous Euryarchaeal Group, are a class of thermophile microorganisms that have been found in deep mines, hot springs and other subterranean environments.[1]
Nomenclature
These archea were initially called South-African Gold Mine Miscellaneous Euryarchaeal Group (SAGMEG) after their initial site of discovery.[2] The name Hadesarchaea was proposed by Baker et al. in 2016, a reference to the Greek god of the underworld.[1]
Genome
Shotgun sequencing has shown the genome of Hadesarchaea to be approximately 1.5 Megabase pairs in size,[1] about .5 Mbp smaller than most archea.[3]
Habitat and metabolism
These microbes were first discovered in a gold mine in South Africa at a depth of approximately 3 km (3 mi),[2] where they are able to live without oxygen or light.[3][4][5] They were later also found in the White Oak River estuary in North Carolina and in Yellowstone National Park's Lower Culex Basin.[6] These areas are approximately 70 °C (158 °F) and highly alkaline.[6]
Hadesarchaea are unique among known archaea in that they can convert carbon monoxide and water to carbon dioxide and oxygen, producing hydrogen as a by-product. In other ways, they are similar to anerobic euryarchaeotic bacteria.[6] Initial research suggests that these organisms are also involved in significant geochemical processes.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Baker, Brett J.; Saw, Jimmy H.; Lind, Anders E.; Lazar, Cassandra Sara; Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe; Teske, Andreas P.; Ettema, Thijs J.G. (February 16, 2016). "Genomic inference of the metabolism of cosmopolitan subsurface Archaea, Hadesarchaea". Nature Microbiology. 1. doi:10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.2. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
- ^ a b Ettema, Thijs (February 17, 2016). "New paper about the Hadesarchaea published!". Ettema Lab. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
- ^ a b "Hadesarchaea: a New Archaeal Class of Cosmopolitan Deep Microbes". Deep Carbon Observatory. February 18, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
- ^ "Scientists discover new microbes that thrive deep in the earth" (Press release). Uppsala University. February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
- ^ "Underworld microbes shock scientists: Mystery of Hadesarchaea". India Today. New Delhi. February 17, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
- ^ a b c Atherton, Matt (February 15, 2016). "God of the underworld microbes Hadesarchaea discovered living on toxic gas deep below Yellowstone hot springs". IB Times. Retrieved February 25, 2016.