Extremophiles are organisms that are capable of thriving and surviving in environments that would usually be detrimental to most organisms on Earth. The extremophile shown below is Pyrolobus fumarii. It is a hyperthermophile, meaning it can withstand extremely high temperatures. Pyrolobus fumarii was first discovered in 1997 in a black smoker hydrothermal vent at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, setting the upper temperature threshold for known life to exist at 113°C. Strain 121, a microbe from the same family found at a vent in the Pacific Ocean, survived and multiplied during a 10-hour interval spent at 121°C in an autoclave. It was finally killed at a temperature of 130°C.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Extremophiles
Extremophiles are organisms that are capable of thriving and surviving in environments that would usually be detrimental to most organisms on Earth. The extremophile shown below is Pyrolobus fumarii. It is a hyperthermophile, meaning it can withstand extremely high temperatures. Pyrolobus fumarii was first discovered in 1997 in a black smoker hydrothermal vent at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, setting the upper temperature threshold for known life to exist at 113°C. Strain 121, a microbe from the same family found at a vent in the Pacific Ocean, survived and multiplied during a 10-hour interval spent at 121°C in an autoclave. It was finally killed at a temperature of 130°C.
Extremophiles are organisms that are capable of thriving and surviving in environments that would usually be detrimental to most organisms on Earth. The extremophile shown below is Pyrolobus fumarii. It is a hyperthermophile, meaning it can withstand extremely high temperatures. Pyrolobus fumarii was first discovered in 1997 in a black smoker hydrothermal vent at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, setting the upper temperature threshold for known life to exist at 113°C. Strain 121, a microbe from the same family found at a vent in the Pacific Ocean, survived and multiplied during a 10-hour interval spent at 121°C in an autoclave. It was finally killed at a temperature of 130°C.
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