[TML] Surprising sea bacteria

[Bruce Johnson]

On Feb 29, 2008, at 3:38 PM, Jerry W Barrington wrote:

> Following up the under-sea-sediment bacteria:
> <http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/news_stories/news_detail.cfm?ID=102>
>
> Bacteria which can photosynthesize (in IR) without making O2, and  
> can also
> live without photosynthesis.

I long ago stopped being astounded at what bacteria (and fungi, for  
that matter) can and cannot do.

Short of environments that will destroy them (much above boiling, or  
below freezing..vaccum is ok, as is high-radiation environments, a  
REAL concern for NASA is hitch-hiking bacteria on space probes.) if  
there's a niche or metabolic substrate out there there will be  
bacteria living on it. If there's oxygen present, there will likely be  
fungi living on it and/or the bacteria.

If we don't know about it, like the IR-photosynthesizers above, it's  
usually because we just haven't looked for 'em.

Of course that's what my degree is in, so I was exposed to it a long  
time ago.

-- 
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs