Some like it hotter. (Extremophiles).A microbe microbe /mi·crobe/ (mi´krob) a microorganism, especially a pathogenic one such as a bacterium, protozoan, or fungus.micro´bialmicro´bic mi·crobe n. found where volcanic activity has cracked the floor of the Pacific Ocean has set a new record for the upper temperature limit for life. This organism grows readily at 121[degrees]C in the laboratory and can even survive a few hours at 130[degrees]C, Kazem Kashefi of the University of Massachusetts The system includes UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth (affiliated with Cape Cod Community College), UMass Lowell, and the UMass Medical School. It also has an online school called UMassOnline. in Amherst and his colleagues report. The previous record was held by a microbe that could grow at a temperature of 113[degrees]C. The new record holder, known as strain 121, was isolated during a submersible dive to a hydrothermal vent, a rift in the ocean floor where water can be as hot as 300[degrees]C. A variety of odd animals and microbes thrives on the heat and chemicals released at these vents. A genetic analysis of strain 121 indicates that the microbe is an archaea archaea: see Archaebacteria. archaea A group of prokaryotes whose members differ from bacteria, the most prominent prokaryotes, in certain physical, physiological, and genetic features. The archaea may be aquatic or terrestrial microorganisms. , a life form that resembles bacteria but that may be more closely related to plants and animals Plants and Animals are a Canadian indie-rock band from Montreal, comprised of guitarist-vocalists Warren Spicer and Nic Basque, and drummer-vocalist Matthew Woodley.[1] They are signed to Secret City Records. (SN: 8/24/96, p. 116). Scientists typically sterilize sterilize /ster·i·lize/ (ster´i-liz) 1. to render sterile; to free from microorganisms. 2. to render incapable of reproduction. ster·il·ize v. 1. lab dishes and instruments with water heated to 121[degrees]C because that temperature kills all previously described microbes, notes Kashefi. Determining the upper temperature limit for life, he adds, may provide clues to how and where life originated on this planet and to where life could exist elsewhere. |
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