Alcanivorax Borkumensis

MicrobesStars

Jim Foley

What are microbes?Single-celled organisms.They make up a majority of the life on

Earth in terms of mass. They are the first living organisms to

develop.

Role in EcologyNearly all microbes are either

decomposers or producers. They play major roles in maintaining the

nitrogen and carbon cycles and decomposing organisms.

tiny Evolution Microbes are the oldest organism on earth

specifically 3.3 billion years. Without them evolution would never have

taken place.The first micro-organisms were

photosynthetic Cyano-bacteria.

Deep SeaLife for microbes in the deep ocean is

intense. Several factors in their environment are:

immense pressure, complete darkness, and restricted by lack of chemicals and nutrients. They are often called “extremophiles.” (living in extreme environments (salinity, temperature, pH, pressure))

The ocean is separated into multiple biospheres or layers.

Each of these have their own unique characteristics.

Only areas that receive significant light (photic zone) have primarily been observed.

Microbes beneath the sea floor are a new area of research by C-DEBI (Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations)http://www.darkenergybiosphere.org/resources/toolbox.html

How do scientists search for and collect microbes beneath the sea floor?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOgZy9TfSFo&feature=youtu.be

What We Learn from Ocean DrillingOcean drilling has:

Confirmed the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift.

Altered our thinking about the formation of geologic hazards like earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis.

Discovered a vast and active biosphere of microbes living deep below the seafloor, far deeper than scientists ever predicted life could exist. These are unknown microbes with an estimated biomass greater than all terrestrial life.

Provided major insights into the paleoclimate record—the changes to our global climate that have occurred over the past 100 million years and more.

Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the grander view?

Victor HugoLes Miserables (1862)

12 billion light year corridor of space 12 billion microbes per liter