Extremophiles of YellowstoneErin Sheriff

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.

CandidatusChloracidobacteriumTh

ermophilum

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.

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

Grand Prismatic

The color of a mat depends principally upon the ratio of chlorophyll to

carotenoids.

Grand Prismatic In the summer the chlorophyll content is often low, so that the microbial mats

appear orange, red, or yellow.

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.

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).

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!

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

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.

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.

Extremophiles to Human

Extremophile

Of Yellowstone

Extremohuman

Of YellowstoneHumans Today

Extremophile to Dog

Extremophile to Cat

Acid -vs- AlkalineSprings

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.

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.

How Hot Springs Work

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.