Sunday 3 May 2015

Unusual Microbial Life Found On The Edge Of Volcanoes


Researchers have analyze the microbial community in volcanically active soils. In a mofette close to the Czech river Plesná in north-western Bohemia, the team found numerous organisms that were thriving in an environment which seems to be so hostile to life.

Prof. Dr. Kirsten Küsel of the Friedrich-Schiller Universiy Jena: "Our investigation was aiming at examining microbial communities of a mofette and to find out if organisms profit from carbon dioxide emissions, and if so, which, We could show, that the carbon dioxide degassing from the interior of the earth is being absorbed by a number of groups of microorganisms and is being transformed into biomass and in chemical bonds like methane and acetic acid. These in turn offer the basic food resource for other organisms in the mofette, and that is why the emitting carbon dioxide plays an important role in the carbon cycle of the soil."

For further details, see:

Felix Beulig, Verena B Heuer, Denise M Akob, Bernhard Viehweger, Marcus Elvert, Martina Herrmann, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, Kirsten Küsel. Carbon flow from volcanic CO2 into soil microbial communities of a wetland mofette. The ISME Journal, 2014; 9 (3): 746
Posted by Tim Sandle

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