Microbes are almost everywhere, as we all know by now.
Microbes are in the air, on surfaces, in waters, and even in the human body! But
did you know microbes that are in the deep-sea can live off oxygen in
quantities that were too small to be even measured? Well until now, according
to an article written by S. Bhanoo in the New York Times.
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| http://www.sciencecentric.com/images/news/thermophilic_bacteria_300_196.jpg |
Hans Roy is a geomicrobiologist at Aarhus University in
Denmark. Dr. Roy and his colleagues measured the oxygen concentration in layers
of sediment gathered from the sea bottom, 100 feet below the surface, in the
North Pacific Gyre (off Hawaii). The researches wanted to calculate how much
oxygen should have diffused (spread or intermingled) into each layer of
sediment and any missing oxygen was likely to have been consumed by microbes,
said Dr. Roy. The researchers found that the deepest microbes used just 0.001
femtomoles of oxygen per day. The article stated “to put it another way, it would
take 10 years for a microbe to consume the amount that a human inhales in a single
breath.”
I’ve been saying this almost every time I write or comment
on a blog, microbes are unbelievable organisms. At first reading this article I
felt since microbes are so small they shouldn’t need much oxygen to survive.
But then I reread the last sentence in paragraph 2 of my blog, and I had to
rethink. Ten years for a microbe to consume the amount that a human inhales in
one single breathe. This just says to me microbes are very, very small, or are
very rare organisms that can live through anything. But then I decided both of these are true! I
think this article is well written because it gets straight to the point and
even simplifies main facts for a “non scientist” to understand. Although this
article is well written I feel it arises many questions. Such as what
organisms/microbes are in the deep sea? Since the article stated, “the whole
community seems to be hovering right at the hunger limit” why aren’t these
microbes moving someplace else? The article did state, since these microbes are
so slow moving, they are difficult to study. I’m now more interested on what
microbes are really down in the deep sea.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/science/deep-sea-microbes-that-barely-breathe.html?_r=0
Angelo, I am always fascinated with microbes and reading all the blogs each week because I learn new things about microbes. It is still hard for me to put into perspective how small microorganisms really are. It is hard to believe that these tiny creatures are essentially the building blocks for our earth. They produce oxygen and carbon dioxide and even fix nitrogen for plants to get energy. If we did not have microbes we would probably be pretty close to helpless. I wish your article would have stated the name of the microorganism that they were studying. I am always curious about what role microbes play in the world, these guys survive on very little oxygen but what are they doing. I am now convinced that life can be found anywhere and everywhere. Some microbes live in complete darkness, some like hot temperatures. The new guys that you talk about survive on little oxygen and in dark depths of the ocean. Microbes are amazing and I am always wondering new things.
ReplyDelete10 years. 10 years for a microbe to inhale one breathe of ours. That's a unbelievable statistic that shows only how small these organisms actually are. Every week that I read different post these creatures do not stop fascinating me and surprising me. I find something new every week. It's really to think how there are tiny organisms living 100 ft below sea level right now and they are able to breathe through 0.001 femtomoles of oxygen per day. It would be cool to find out more about all the different organisms down in the deep blue sea.
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