2. Extremophiles of Yellowstone
Boiling hot springs in Yellowstone
National Park are colored by colonies
of thermophiliccyanobacteria,
eubacteria and archaebacteria.
Extremophileswere first discovered
just 40 years ago in the hot springs of
Yellowstone National Park.
Thermophiles were the first
extremophile to be discovered, but
other extremophiles have been found
living in ice, deep under the surface
of the ocean, in salty environments,
and in environments with both high
and low Ph levels.
4. Extremophiles of Yellowstone
Hyperthermophiles are organisms that prefer
temperatures above 140º F, some even as high as
250°F (121°C), although those have trouble
reproducing.
They can withstand other environment stresses,
such as high acidity and radiation.
Bacteria are so tiny that 500 of them could be
placed end to end across the period at the end of
this sentence.
5. Grand Prismatic
Orange color is due to pigmented bacteria of the
microbial mats
Blue coloris therefracted skylight
The principal pigment for photosynthesis is
chlorophyll, which is green
Chlorophyll is sometimes masked by
carotenoids, pigments related to vitamin A, which are
orange, yellow, or red
Carotenoids protect the cells from the bright sunlight
that occurs in Yellowstone, especially during the
summer
7. Grand Prismatic
In the summer the chlorophyll content is often low, so that the microbial mats
appear orange, red, or yellow.
8. Grand Prismatic
In the winter, the mats are usually dark green, because at this time of year the
sunlight is subdued and chlorophyll dominates over carotenoids. In fact, even
a few cloudy days in mid-summer can lead to an increase in chlorophyll and a
darkening of the mats.
9.
10. Archaebacteria
Thrive in boiling water at Yellowstone
National Park, at temperatures of198º
F (92º C)
These bacteria also thrive near steam
vents at the bottom of the ocean at
temperatures exceeding239º F (115º
C)
Thermophilic bacteria Limestone
terraces formed by precipitation from
calcium rich water flowing from a
raised hotpool. Pink, green, and
brown-colored archaebacteria occupy
the thermal gradients in the flowing
water (60-100°C).
11. Cyanidium Caldarium
Acid hot springs in
Yellowstone National
Park with a pH of below
4.0 support the
eukaryotic
algaCyanidium
Caldarium
This photosynthetic
alga can even survive
in a pH of zero!
12. ThermusAquaticus
Survives in temperatures too
high for photosynthetic
bacteria, up to176º F (80º C).
They are heterotrophic and
survives on minute amounts of
organic matter in the water
Heterotrophic is an organism
that uses organic substrates to
get its chemical energy for its
life cycle
13. ThermusAquaticus
Supplied TAQ polymerase
This is an essential enzyme
for polymerase chain
reaction, AKA PCR
PCR is an artificial
technique for replicate
DNA. But PCR is the rocket
ship of replication, since it
allows you to multiply a
piece of DNA billions of
times in a few hours.
14. Extremophiles to Human
Many scientists believe that life as we know it might
first have arisen three billion or so years ago in
high-temperature environments, and that the first
organisms on earth might therefore have been
thermophiles. Such thermophiles would then have
continued to exist on earth in the intervening
period, finding refuges in the hot springs that
continue to dot the earth. In addition, these
thermophiles would have been the forerunners of
all other life forms including, eventually, humans.
18. Acid -vs- Alkaline
Springs
The
microorganisms in
the acid springs are
entirely different
from those in the
neutral to alkaline
springs. Indeed,
the organisms of
acid hot springs
have two
environmental
hurdles to
overcome, high
temperature and
acidity.
19. How the bacteria get the
minerals need
Water collects through rain and snow. It sinks into the earth at depths
of 10,000 ft below. It gets heated up by the magma below the
surface.
With enough pressure and heat the water returns to the surface.
Along the way it dissolves chemicals from the surrounding rocks and
brings them to the surface.
One important mineral, silica, deposits as it cools, forming the cones
and rims of the thermal features. Other minerals provide the nutrients
that feed the microorganisms.
Acid springs are formed when hydrogen sulfide meets oxygen of the
air and is changed into sulfur and sulfuric acid by bacteria called
sulfur bacteria.
21. Extremophiles on other
Planets
Researchers have discovered a bizarre group of
microbes that live inside rocks in the inhospitable
geothermal environment at Wyoming’s Yellowstone
National Park.
Scientists believe similar kinds of geothermal
environments may have once existed on Mars.
hydrogen was the main energy source for microbes
in hot springs
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the
universe, If there is life elsewhere, it could be that
hydrogen is its fuel.