thermophilic organisms. Mysteries of nature. Inhabitants of thermal springs The difference between a population and a species

In boiling water, at a temperature of 100°C, all forms of living organisms die, including bacteria and microbes, which are known for their resistance and vitality - this is a widely known and generally recognized fact. But how wrong it turns out!

In the late 1970s, with the advent of the first deep-sea vehicles, hydrothermal springs, from which streams of over hot highly mineralized water continuously beat. The temperature of such streams reaches incredible 200-400°C. At first, no one could have imagined that life could exist at a depth of several thousand meters from the surface, in eternal darkness, and even at such a temperature. But she was there. And not primitive unicellular life, but entire independent ecosystems, consisting of species previously unknown to science.

A hydrothermal spring found at the bottom of the Cayman Trench at a depth of about 5,000 meters. Such sources are called black smokers because of the eruption of black smoke-like water.

The basis of ecosystems living near hydrothermal springs are chemosynthetic bacteria - microorganisms that receive the necessary nutrients by oxidizing various chemical elements; in the specific case by the oxidation of carbon dioxide. All other representatives of thermal ecosystems, including filter-feeding crabs, shrimps, various molluscs and even huge sea worms, depend on these bacteria.

This black smoker is completely enveloped in white sea anemones. Conditions that mean death to other marine organisms are the norm for these creatures. White anemones get their food by absorbing chemosynthetic bacteria.

Organisms living in black smokers"are completely dependent on local conditions and are not able to survive in the habitat familiar to the vast majority of marine life. For this reason, for a long time it was not possible to raise a single creature to the surface alive, they all died when the water temperature dropped.

Pompeii worm (lat. Alvinella pompejana) - this inhabitant of underwater hydrothermal ecosystems received a rather symbolic name.

An ISIS underwater unmanned vehicle managed by British oceanologists managed to raise the first living creature. Scientists have found that temperatures below 70°C are deadly for these amazing creatures. This is quite remarkable, as temperatures of 70°C are lethal to 99% of the organisms living on Earth.

The discovery of underwater thermal ecosystems was extremely important for science. First, the limits within which life can exist have been expanded. Secondly, the discovery led scientists to a new version of the origin of life on Earth, according to which life originated in hydrothermal vents. And thirdly, this discovery once again made us realize that we know very little about the world around us.

For those who are not interested in animals, but are looking for where to buy a cheap gift for the New Year, the Groupon promo code will definitely come in handy.

Some organisms, when compared with others, have a number of undeniable advantages, for example, the ability to withstand extremely high or low temperatures. There are a lot of such hardy living creatures in the world. In the article below you will get acquainted with the most amazing of them. Without exaggeration, they are able to survive even in extreme conditions.

1. Himalayan jumping spiders

Mountain geese are known to be among the highest flying birds in the world. They are able to fly at an altitude of more than 6 thousand meters above the ground.

Do you know where the highest settlement on Earth is located? In Peru. This is the city of La Rinconada, located in the Andes near the border with Bolivia at an altitude of about 5100 meters above sea level.

Meanwhile, the record for the highest living creatures on planet Earth went to the Himalayan jumping spiders Euophrys omnisuperstes (Euophrys omnisuperstes - “standing above everything”), which live in secluded nooks and crevices on the slopes of Mount Everest. Climbers found them even at an altitude of 6700 meters. These tiny spiders feed on insects that are blown to the top of the mountain by strong winds. They are the only living creatures that permanently live at such a great height, apart from, of course, some species of birds. It is also known that Himalayan jumping spiders are able to survive even in conditions of lack of oxygen.

2. Giant kangaroo jumper

When we are asked to name an animal that can go without drinking water for long periods of time, the first thing that comes to mind is the camel. However, in the desert without water, it can last no more than 15 days. And no, camels do not store water in their humps, as many mistakenly believe. Meanwhile, on Earth there are still such animals that live in the desert and are able to live without a single drop of water throughout their lives!

Giant jumping kangaroos are related to beavers. Their life span is three to five years. Giant kangaroo jumpers get water with food, and they feed mainly on seeds.

Giant kangaroo jumpers, as scientists note, do not sweat at all, so they do not lose, but, on the contrary, accumulate water in the body. You can find them in Death Valley (California). Giant jumping kangaroos are currently endangered.

3. Worms resistant to high temperatures

Since water conducts heat away from the human body about 25 times more efficiently than air, a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius in the depths of the sea will be much more dangerous than on land. That is why bacteria thrive under water, and not multicellular organisms that cannot withstand too high temperatures. But there are exceptions...

Marine deep-sea annelid worms Paralvinella sulfincola (Paralvinella sulfincola), which live near hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, are perhaps the most heat-loving living creatures on the planet. The results of an experiment conducted by scientists with heating the aquarium showed that these worms prefer to settle where the temperature reaches 45-55 degrees Celsius.

4 Greenland Shark

Greenland sharks are one of the largest living creatures on planet Earth, but scientists know almost nothing about them. They swim very slowly, on par with the average amateur swimmer. However, it is almost impossible to see the Greenland sharks in the ocean waters, since they usually live at a depth of 1200 meters.

Greenland sharks are also considered the most cold-loving creatures in the world. They prefer to live in places where the temperature reaches 1-12 degrees Celsius.

Greenland sharks live in cold waters, therefore, they have to conserve energy; this explains the fact that they swim very slowly - at a speed of no more than two kilometers per hour. Greenland sharks are also called "sleeping sharks". In food, they are not picky: they eat everything that they can catch.

According to some scientists, the life expectancy of the Greenland polar sharks can reach 200 years, but so far this has not been proven.

5. Devil Worms

For decades, scientists thought that only single-celled organisms could survive at very great depths. It was believed that multicellular life forms could not live there due to lack of oxygen, pressure and high temperatures. However, more recently, researchers have discovered microscopic worms at a depth of several thousand meters from the earth's surface.

The nematode Halicephalobus mephisto, named after a demon from German folklore, was discovered by Gaetan Borgoni and Tallis Onstott in 2011 in water samples taken at a depth of 3.5 kilometers in a cave in South Africa. Scientists have found that they show high resilience in various extreme conditions, like those roundworms that survived the Columbia shuttle disaster on February 1, 2003. The discovery of devil worms could expand the search for life on Mars and every other planet in our galaxy.

6. Frogs

Scientists have noticed that some types of frogs literally freeze with the onset of winter and, thawing in the spring, return to a full life. In North America, there are five species of such frogs, the most common of which is Rana sylvatica, or Wood Frog.

Forest frogs do not know how to burrow into the ground, so with the onset of cold weather, they simply hide under fallen leaves and freeze, like everything around. Inside the body, they have a natural “antifreeze” protective mechanism, and they, like a computer, go into “sleep mode”. To survive the winter they are largely allowed by the reserves of glucose in the liver. But the most amazing thing is that Wood Frogs show their amazing ability both in the wild and in the laboratory.

7 Deep Sea Bacteria

We all know that the deepest point of the World Ocean is the Mariana Trench, which is located at a depth of more than 11 thousand meters. At its bottom, the water pressure reaches 108.6 MPa, which is about 1072 times higher than the normal atmospheric pressure at the level of the World Ocean. A few years ago, scientists using high-resolution cameras placed in glass spheres discovered giant amoebas in the Mariana Trench. According to James Cameron, who led the expedition, other forms of life also thrive in it.

After studying water samples from the bottom of the Mariana Trench, scientists found a huge amount of bacteria in it, which, surprisingly, actively multiplied, despite the great depth and extreme pressure.

8. Bdelloidea

Bdelloidea rotifers are small invertebrates commonly found in fresh water.

Representatives of the Bdelloidea rotifers lack males, and the populations are represented only by parthenogenetic females. Bdelloidea reproduce asexually, which, according to scientists, negatively affects their DNA. And what is the best way to overcome these harmful effects? Answer: eat the DNA of other life forms. Through this approach, Bdelloidea has developed an amazing ability to withstand extreme dehydration. Moreover, they can survive even after receiving a lethal dose of radiation for most living organisms.

Scientists believe that the ability of Bdelloidea to repair DNA was originally given to them to survive in conditions of high temperatures.

9. Cockroaches

There is a popular myth that after a nuclear war, only cockroaches will survive on Earth. These insects are able to go weeks without food and water, but what is even more amazing is the fact that they can live many days after they lose their heads. Cockroaches appeared on Earth 300 million years ago, even earlier than dinosaurs.

The hosts of the MythBusters in one of the programs decided to test the survivability of cockroaches in the course of several experiments. First, they exposed a number of insects to 1,000 rads of radiation, a dose capable of killing a healthy human in minutes. Almost half of them managed to survive. After the MythBusters increased the radiation power to 10 thousand rad (as in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima). This time, only 10 percent of the cockroaches survived. When the radiation power reached 100 thousand rads, not a single cockroach, unfortunately, managed to stay alive.

Hot springs, usually found in volcanic areas, have a fairly rich living population.

Long ago, when there was the most superficial idea about bacteria and other lower beings, the existence of a peculiar flora and fauna in the baths was established. Thus, for example, in 1774 Sonnerath reported the presence of fish in the hot springs of Iceland, which had a temperature of 69°. This conclusion was not later confirmed by other researchers in relation to the terms of Iceland, but in other places similar observations were nevertheless made. On the island of Ischia, Ehrenberg (1858) noted the presence of fish in springs with temperatures above 55°. Hoppe-Seyler (1875) also saw fish in water with a temperature also of about 55°. Even if we assume that in all the cases noted the thermometering was inaccurate, it is still possible to draw a conclusion about the ability of some fish to live at a rather elevated temperature. Along with fish, the presence of frogs, worms and mollusks was sometimes noted in the baths. At a later time, protozoa were also discovered here.

In 1908, the work of Issel was published, which established in more detail the temperature limits for the animal world living in hot springs.

Along with the animal world, the presence of algae in the baths is extremely easy to establish, sometimes forming powerful fouling. According to Rodina (1945), the thickness of algae accumulated in hot springs often reaches several meters.

We have spoken enough about the associations of thermophilic algae and the factors that determine their composition in the section "Algae living at high temperatures." Here we only recall that the most thermally stable of them are blue-green algae, which can develop up to a temperature of 80-85 °. Green algae tolerate temperatures slightly above 60°C, while diatoms stop developing at about 50°C.

As already noted, algae that develop in thermal baths play a significant role in the formation of various kinds of scales, which include mineral compounds.

Thermophilic algae have a great influence on the development of the bacterial population in the thermal baths. During their lifetime, by exosmosis, they release a certain amount of organic compounds into the water, and when they die, they create a rather favorable substrate for bacteria. It is not surprising, therefore, that the bacterial population of thermal waters is most richly represented in places where algae accumulate.

Turning to the thermophilic bacteria of hot springs, we must point out that in our country they have been studied by quite a few microbiologists. Here the names of Tsiklinskaya (1899), Gubin (1924-1929), Afanasyeva-Kester (1929), Egorova (1936-1940), Volkova (1939), Motherland (1945) and Isachenko (1948) should be noted.

Most of the researchers who dealt with hot springs limited themselves only to the fact of establishing a bacterial flora in them. Only a relatively few microbiologists have dwelled on the fundamental aspects of the life of bacteria in thermae.

In our review, we will linger only on the studies of the last group.

Thermophilic bacteria have been found in hot springs in a number of countries - the Soviet Union, France, Italy, Germany, Slovakia, Japan, etc. Since the waters of hot springs are often poor in organic matter, it is not surprising that they sometimes contain a very small amount of saprophytic bacteria.

The reproduction of autotrophically feeding bacteria, among which iron and sulfur bacteria are quite widespread in the baths, is determined mainly by the chemical composition of the water, as well as its temperature.

Some thermophilic bacteria isolated from hot waters have been described as new species. These forms include: Bac. thermophilus filiformis. studied by Tsiklinskaya (1899), two spore-bearing rods - Bac. ludwigi and Bac. ilidzensis capsulatus isolated by Karlinsky (1895), Spirochaeta daxensis isolated by Kantakouzen (1910), and Thiospirillum pistiense isolated by Czurda (1935).

The water temperature of hot springs strongly affects the species composition of the bacterial population. In waters with a lower temperature, cocci and spirochete-like bacteria have been found (works by Rodina and Kantakouzena). However, here, too, spore-bearing rods are the predominant form.

Recently, the influence of temperature on the species composition of the bacterial population of the term was very colorfully shown in the work of Rodina (1945), who studied the hot springs of Khoji-Obi-Garm in Tajikistan. The temperature of individual sources of this system ranges from 50-86°. Connecting, these terms give a stream, at the bottom of which, in places with a temperature not exceeding 68 °, a rapid growth of blue-green algae was observed. In places, algae formed thick layers of different colors. At the water's edge, on the side walls of the niches, there were deposits of sulfur.

In different sources, in the runoff, as well as in the thickness of blue-green algae, fouling glasses were placed for three days. In addition, the collected material was sown on nutrient media. It was found that the water with the highest temperature has predominantly rod-shaped bacteria. Wedge-shaped forms, in particular resembling Azotobacter, occur at temperatures not exceeding 60 °. Judging by all the data, it can be said that Azotobacter itself does not grow above 52°C, while the large round cells found in the fouling belong to other types of microbes.

The most heat-resistant are some forms of bacteria that develop on meat-peptone agar, thio-bacteria such as Tkiobacillus thioparus and desulphurizers. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that Egorova and Sokolova (1940) found Microspira in water at a temperature of 50-60°.

In Rodina's work, nitrogen-fixing bacteria were not found in water at 50°C. However, when studying soils, anaerobic nitrogen fixers were found even at 77°C, and Azotobacter - at 52°C. This suggests that water is generally not a suitable substrate for nitrogen fixers.

The study of bacteria in the soils of hot springs revealed the same dependence of the group composition on temperature there as in water. However, the soil micropopulation was much richer numerically. Sandy soils poor in organic compounds had a rather poor micropopulation, while soils containing dark-colored organic matter were abundantly inhabited by bacteria. Thus, the relationship between the composition of the substrate and the nature of the microscopic creatures contained in it was revealed here very clearly.

It is noteworthy that thermophilic bacteria that decompose cellulose were not found either in the water or in the silts of Rodina. We are inclined to explain this point by methodological difficulties, since thermophilic cellulose-decomposing bacteria are quite demanding on nutrient media. As Imshenetsky showed, rather specific nutrient substrates are needed for their isolation.

In hot springs, in addition to saprophytes, there are autotrophs - sulfur and iron bacteria.

The oldest observations on the possibility of growth of sulfur bacteria in thermae were apparently made by Meyer and Ahrens, and also by Mioshi. Mioshi observed the development of filamentous sulfur bacteria in springs whose water temperature reached 70°C. Egorova (1936), who studied the Bragun sulfur springs, noted the presence of sulfur bacteria even at a water temperature of 80°C.

In the chapter "General Characteristics of the Morphological and Physiological Features of Thermophilic Bacteria" we described in sufficient detail the properties of thermophilic iron and sulfur bacteria. It is not expedient to repeat this information, and we will confine ourselves here to a reminder that individual genera and even species of autotrophic bacteria terminate their development at different temperatures.

Thus, the maximum temperature for sulfur bacteria is about 80°C. For iron bacteria such as Streptothrix ochraceae and Spirillum ferrugineum, Mioshi set a maximum of 41-45°.

Dufrenois (Dufrencfy, 1921) found on sediments in hot waters with a temperature of 50-63° iron bacteria very similar to Siderocapsa. According to his observations, the growth of filamentous iron bacteria occurred only in cold waters.

Volkova (1945) observed the development of bacteria from the genus Gallionella in the mineral springs of the Pyatigorsk group when the water temperature did not exceed 27-32°. In the baths with a higher temperature, iron bacteria were completely absent.

Comparing the materials noted by us, we involuntarily have to conclude that in some cases it is not the temperature of the water, but its chemical composition that determines the development of certain microorganisms.

Bacteria, along with algae, take an active part in the formation of some minerals, bioliths and caustobioliths. The role of bacteria in calcium precipitation has been studied in more detail. This issue is covered in detail in the section on physiological processes caused by thermophilic bacteria.

The conclusion made by Volkova deserves attention. She notes that the "barezina", which is deposited in a thick cover in the streams of the sources of the sulfur sources of Pyatigorsk, contains a lot of elemental sulfur and basically has a mycelium of a mold fungus from the genus Penicillium. The mycelium makes up the stroma, which includes rod-shaped bacteria, apparently related to sulfur bacteria.

Brussoff believes that term bacteria also take part in the formation of silicic acid deposits.

Bacteria reducing sulfates were found in the baths. According to Afanasieva-Kester, they resemble Microspira aestuarii van Delden and Vibrio thermodesulfuricans Elion. Gubin (1924-1929) expressed a number of ideas about the possible role of these bacteria in the formation of hydrogen sulfide in the baths.

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High temperatures are harmful to almost all living things. An increase in the temperature of the environment to +50 °C is quite enough to cause the oppression and death of a wide variety of organisms. No need to talk about higher temperatures.

The limit of the spread of life is considered to be a temperature mark of +100 ° C, at which protein denaturation occurs, that is, the destruction of the structure of protein molecules. For a long period it was believed that there are no creatures in nature that would calmly endure temperatures in the range from 50 to 100 ° C. However, recent discoveries of scientists say otherwise.

First, bacteria adapted to life in hot springs with water temperatures up to +90 ºС were discovered. In 1983 another major scientific discovery took place. A group of American biologists studied the sources of thermal waters saturated with metals located at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

Similar to truncated cones, black smokers are located at a depth of 2000 m. Their height is 70 m, and the diameter of the base is 200 m. For the first time, smokers were discovered near the Galapagos Islands.

Located at great depths, these "black smokers", as geologists call them, actively absorb water. Here it is warmed up due to the heat coming from the deep hot substance of the Earth, and takes on a temperature of more than +200 °C.

The water in the springs does not boil only because it is under high pressure and is enriched with metals from the bowels of the planet. A column of water rises above the "black smokers". The pressure created here, at a depth of about 2000 m (and even much more), is 265 atm. At such a high pressure, even the mineralized waters of some sources, which have a temperature of up to +350 ° C, do not boil.

As a result of mixing with ocean water, thermal waters cool relatively quickly, but the bacteria discovered by the Americans at these depths try to stay away from the cooled water. Amazing microorganisms have adapted to feed on minerals in those waters that are heated to +250 ° C. Lower temperatures have a depressing effect on microbes. Already in water with a temperature of about +80 ° C, bacteria, although they remain viable, stop multiplying.

Scientists do not know exactly what is the secret of the fantastic endurance of these tiny living creatures, which easily tolerate heating to the melting point of tin.

The body shape of the bacteria inhabiting black smokers is incorrect. Often organisms are equipped with long outgrowths. Bacteria absorb sulfur, turning it into organic matter. Pogonophores and vestimentifera formed a symbiosis with them to eat this organic matter.

Careful biochemical studies revealed the presence of a protective mechanism in bacterial cells. The molecule of the substance of DNA heredity, on which genetic information is stored, in a number of species is enveloped in a layer of protein that absorbs excess heat.

DNA itself includes an abnormally high content of guanine-cytosine pairs. In all other living beings on our planet, the number of these associations inside the DNA is much less. It turns out that the bond between guanine and cytosine is very difficult to destroy by heating.

Therefore, most of these compounds simply serve the purpose of strengthening the molecule and only then the purpose of encoding genetic information.

Amino acids are the constituents of protein molecules, in which they are retained due to special chemical bonds. If we compare the proteins of deep-sea bacteria with the proteins of other living organisms similar in terms of the parameters listed above, it turns out that there are additional bonds in the proteins of high-temperature microbes due to additional amino acids.

But experts are sure that the secret of bacteria is not at all in this. Heating cells within +100 - 120º C is quite enough to damage DNA protected by the listed chemical devices. This means that there must be other ways within the bacteria to avoid destruction of their cells. The protein that makes up the microscopic inhabitants of thermal springs includes special particles - amino acids of a kind that are not found in any other creature that lives on Earth.

Protein molecules of bacterial cells, which have special protective (strengthening) components, have special protection. Lipids, that is, fats and fat-like substances, are unusually arranged. Their molecules are combined chains of atoms. Chemical analysis of lipids of high-temperature bacteria showed that in these organisms the lipid chains are intertwined, which serves to further strengthen the molecules.

However, the data of the analyzes can be understood in another way, so the hypothesis of intertwined chains remains unproven so far. But even if we take it as an axiom, it is impossible to fully explain the mechanisms of adaptation to temperatures of the order of +200 °C.

More highly developed living beings could not achieve the success of microorganisms, but zoologists know of many invertebrates and even fish that have adapted to life in thermal waters.

Among the invertebrates, first of all, it is necessary to name a variety of cave dwellers inhabiting reservoirs fed by groundwater, which are heated by underground heat. These are in most cases the smallest unicellular algae and all kinds of crustaceans.

Thermospheroma thermal, a representative of isopod crustaceans, belongs to the spheromatid family. He lives in one hot spring in Sokkoro (New Mexico, USA). The length of the crustacean is only 0.5-1 cm. It moves along the bottom of the source and has one pair of antennas designed for orientation in space.

Cave fish, adapted to life in thermal springs, tolerate temperatures up to +40 °C. Among these creatures, the most notable are some carps that inhabit the underground waters of North America. Cyprinodon macularis stands out among the species of this vast group.

This is one of the rarest animals on Earth. A small population of these tiny fish lives in a hot spring that is only 50 cm deep. This spring is located inside the Devil's Cave in Death Valley (California), one of the most arid and hot places on the planet.

A close relative of Cyprinodon, the blind eye has not adapted to life in thermal springs, although it inhabits the underground waters of karst caves in the same geographical area within the United States. The blind-eyed and related species are allocated to the blind-eyed family, while cyprinodons are assigned to a separate family of carp-tooths.

Unlike other translucent or milky-creamy cave dwellers, including other carps, cyprinodons are painted bright blue. In former times, these fish were found in several sources and could freely move through the groundwater from one reservoir to another.

In the 19th century, local residents more than once observed how cyprinodons settled in the puddles that arose as a result of filling the ruts from the wagon wheel with underground water. By the way, to this day it remains unclear how and why these beautiful fish made their way along with underground moisture through a layer of loose soil.

However, this mystery is not the main one. It is not clear how fish can withstand water temperatures up to +50 °C. Be that as it may, it was a strange and inexplicable adaptation that helped the Cyprinodons to survive. These creatures appeared in North America over 1 million years ago. With the onset of glaciation, all carp-tooth-like animals died out, except for those who mastered groundwater, including thermal ones.

Almost all species of the stenazellid family, represented by small (no more than 2 cm) isopod crustaceans, live in thermal waters with a temperature of at least +20 C.

When the glacier left, and the climate in California became more arid, the temperature, salinity and even the amount of food - algae - remained almost unchanged in cave springs for 50 thousand years. Therefore, the fish, without changing, calmly survived the prehistoric cataclysms here. Today, all species of cave cyprinodon are protected by law in the interests of science.

Bacteria are the oldest known group of organisms.
Layered stone structures - stromatolites - dated in some cases to the beginning of the Archeozoic (Archaean), i.e. that arose 3.5 billion years ago, is the result of the vital activity of bacteria, usually photosynthetic, the so-called. blue-green algae. Similar structures (bacterial films impregnated with carbonates) are formed now, mainly off the coast of Australia, the Bahamas, in the California and Persian Gulfs, but they are relatively rare and do not reach large sizes, because herbivorous organisms, such as gastropods, feed on them. The first nuclear cells evolved from bacteria about 1.4 billion years ago.

Archaeobacteria thermoacidophiles are considered the most ancient living organisms. They live in hot spring water with a high acid content. Below 55oC (131oF) they die!

90% of the biomass in the seas, it turns out, are microbes.

Life on Earth appeared
3.416 billion years ago, that is, 16 million years earlier than is commonly believed in the scientific world. Analysis of one of the corals, which is more than 3.416 billion years old, proved that at the time of the formation of this coral, life already existed on Earth at the microbial level.

The oldest microfossil
Kakabekia barghoorniana (1964-1986) was found at Harich, Gunedd, Wales, estimated to be over 4,000,000,000 years old.
The oldest form of life
Fossilized imprints of microscopic cells have been found in Greenland. They turned out to be 3,800 million years old, making them the oldest known life forms.

Bacteria and eukaryotes
Life can exist in the form of bacteria - the simplest organisms that do not have a nucleus in the cell, the oldest (archaea), almost as simple as bacteria, but distinguished by an unusual membrane, eukaryotes are considered its top - in fact, all other organisms whose genetic code is stored in cell nucleus.

Earth's oldest inhabitants found in Mariana Trench
At the bottom of the world's deepest Mariana Trench in the center of the Pacific Ocean, 13 species of unicellular organisms unknown to science have been discovered that have existed unchanged for almost a billion years. Microorganisms were found in soil samples taken in the autumn of 2002 in the Challenger Fault by the Japanese automatic bathyscaphe Kaiko at a depth of 10,900 meters. In 10 cubic centimeters of soil, 449 previously unknown primitive unicellular round or elongated 0.5 - 0.7 mm in size were found. After several years of research, they were divided into 13 species. All these organisms almost completely correspond to the so-called. "unknown biological fossils" that were discovered in Russia, Sweden and Austria in the 80s in soil layers from 540 million to a billion years old.

Based on genetic analysis, Japanese researchers claim that the unicellular organisms found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench have existed unchanged for more than 800 million, or even a billion years. Apparently, these are the most ancient of all the inhabitants of the Earth now known. Single-celled organisms from the Challenger Fault were forced to go to extreme depths in order to survive, because in the shallow layers of the ocean they could not compete with younger and more aggressive organisms.

The first bacteria appeared in the Archeozoic era
The development of the Earth is divided into five periods of time, which are called eras. The first two eras, Archaeozoic and Proterozoic, lasted 4 billion years, that is, almost 80% of the entire earth's history. During the Archeozoic, the Earth was formed, water and oxygen arose. About 3.5 billion years ago, the first tiny bacteria and algae appeared. In the Proterozoic era, about 700 years ago, the first animals appeared in the sea. They were primitive invertebrates such as worms and jellyfish. The Paleozoic era began 590 million years ago and lasted 342 million years. Then the Earth was covered with swamps. During the Paleozoic, large plants, fish and amphibians appeared. The Mesozoic era began 248 million years ago and lasted 183 million years. At that time, the Earth was inhabited by huge lizard dinosaurs. The first mammals and birds also appeared. The Cenozoic era began 65 million years ago and continues to this day. At this time, the plants and animals that surround us today arose.

Where do bacteria live
There are many bacteria in the soil, at the bottom of lakes and oceans - everywhere where organic matter accumulates. They live in the cold, when the thermometer is slightly above zero, and in hot acidic springs with temperatures above 90 ° C. Some bacteria tolerate very high salinity of the environment; in particular, they are the only organisms found in the Dead Sea. In the atmosphere, they are present in water droplets, and their abundance there usually correlates with the dustiness of the air. So, in cities, rainwater contains much more bacteria than in rural areas. There are few of them in the cold air of the highlands and polar regions; nevertheless, they are found even in the lower layer of the stratosphere at an altitude of 8 km.

Bacteria are involved in digestion
The digestive tract of animals is densely populated with bacteria (usually harmless). For the life of most species, they are not required, although they can synthesize some vitamins. However, in ruminants (cows, antelopes, sheep) and many termites, they are involved in the digestion of plant foods. In addition, the immune system of an animal raised in sterile conditions does not develop normally due to the lack of stimulation by bacteria. The normal bacterial "flora" of the intestine is also important for the suppression of harmful microorganisms that enter there.

One dot holds a quarter of a million bacteria
Bacteria are much smaller than the cells of multicellular plants and animals. Their thickness is usually 0.5–2.0 µm, and their length is 1.0–8.0 µm. Some forms can barely be seen with the resolution of standard light microscopes (about 0.3 µm), but there are also known species with a length of more than 10 µm and a width that also goes beyond these limits, and a number of very thin bacteria can exceed 50 µm in length. A quarter of a million medium-sized bacteria will fit on the surface corresponding to the dot drawn with a pencil.

Bacteria give lessons on self-organization
In colonies of bacteria called stromatolites, the bacteria self-organize and form a huge working group, although none of them leads the rest. Such an association is very stable and quickly recovers in case of damage or a change in the environment. Also interesting is the fact that the bacteria in the stromatolite have different roles depending on where they are in the colony, and they all share common genetic information. All these properties can be useful for future communication networks.

The ability of bacteria
Many bacteria have chemical receptors that detect changes in the acidity of the environment and the concentration of sugars, amino acids, oxygen and carbon dioxide. Many motile bacteria also respond to temperature fluctuations, and photosynthetic species to changes in light. Some bacteria perceive the direction of magnetic field lines, including the Earth's magnetic field, with the help of magnetite particles (magnetic iron ore - Fe3O4) present in their cells. In water, bacteria use this ability to swim along lines of force in search of a favorable environment.

Memory of bacteria
Conditioned reflexes in bacteria are unknown, but they have a certain kind of primitive memory. While swimming, they compare the perceived intensity of the stimulus with its previous value, i.e. determine whether it has become larger or smaller, and, based on this, maintain the direction of movement or change it.

Bacteria double in number every 20 minutes
Partly due to the small size of bacteria, the intensity of their metabolism is very high. Under the most favorable conditions, some bacteria can double their total mass and abundance approximately every 20 minutes. This is due to the fact that a number of their most important enzyme systems function at a very high speed. So, a rabbit needs a few minutes to synthesize a protein molecule, and bacteria - seconds. However, in the natural environment, for example, in the soil, most bacteria are "on a starvation diet", so if their cells divide, then not every 20 minutes, but every few days.

Within a day, 1 bacterium could form 13 trillion others
One bacterium of E. coli (Esherichia coli) during the day could produce offspring, the total volume of which would be enough to build a pyramid with an area of ​​2 sq. km and a height of 1 km. Under favorable conditions, in 48 hours, one cholera vibrio (Vibrio cholerae) would give offspring weighing 22 * ​​1024 tons, which is 4 thousand times more than the mass of the globe. Fortunately, only a small number of bacteria survive.

How many bacteria are in the soil
The upper soil layer contains from 100,000 to 1 billion bacteria per 1 g, i.e. about 2 tons per hectare. Usually, all organic residues, once in the ground, are quickly oxidized by bacteria and fungi.

Bacteria eat pesticides
A genetically modified common E. coli is capable of eating organophosphorus compounds - poisonous substances that are toxic not only to insects, but also to humans. The class of organophosphorus compounds includes some types of chemical weapons, such as sarin gas, which has a nerve-paralytic effect.

A special enzyme, a kind of hydrolase, originally found in some "wild" soil bacteria, helps modified E. coli to deal with organophosphorus. After testing many genetically related varieties of the bacteria, the scientists selected a strain that was 25 times more effective at killing the pesticide methyl parathion than the original soil bacteria. So that the toxin eaters would not "run away", they were fixed on a matrix of cellulose - it is not known how the transgenic E. coli will behave once it is released.

Bacteria will happily eat plastic with sugar
Polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene, which make up one fifth of urban waste, have become attractive to soil bacteria. When mixing the styrene units of polystyrene with a small amount of another substance, "hooks" are formed, for which particles of sucrose or glucose can catch on. Sugars "hang" on styrene chains like pendants, making up only 3% of the total weight of the resulting polymer. But Pseudomonas and Bacillus bacteria notice the presence of sugars and, by eating them, destroy the polymer chains. As a result, within a few days, the plastics begin to decompose. The final products of processing are carbon dioxide and water, but organic acids and aldehydes appear on the way to them.

Succinic acid from bacteria
In the rumen - a section of the digestive tract of ruminants - a new type of bacteria producing succinic acid was discovered. Microbes live and multiply perfectly without oxygen, in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. In addition to succinic acid, they produce acetic and formic. The main nutritional resource for them is glucose; from 20 grams of glucose, bacteria create almost 14 grams of succinic acid.

Deep Sea Bacteria Cream
Bacteria harvested from a hydrothermal fissure 2km deep in California's Pacific Bay will help create a lotion to effectively protect your skin from the sun's damaging rays. Among the microbes that live here at high temperatures and pressures, there is Thermus thermophilus. Their colonies thrive at 75 degrees Celsius. Scientists are going to use the fermentation process of these bacteria. The result is a "cocktail of proteins" including enzymes that are especially zealous in destroying the highly active chemicals that are produced by UV rays and are involved in skin-degrading reactions. According to the developers, the new components can destroy hydrogen peroxide three times faster at 40 degrees Celsius than at 25.

Humans are hybrids of Homo sapiens and bacteria
Man is a collection of, in fact, human cells, as well as bacterial, fungal and viral life forms, the British say, and the human genome does not at all prevail in this conglomerate. In the human body, there are several trillion cells and more than 100 trillion bacteria, five hundred species, by the way. Bacteria, not human cells, lead in terms of the amount of DNA in our bodies. This biological cohabitation is beneficial to both parties.

Bacteria accumulate uranium
One strain of the bacterium Pseudomonas is able to efficiently capture uranium and other heavy metals from the environment. Researchers have isolated this type of bacteria from the wastewater of one of the Tehran metallurgical plants. The success of cleaning work depends on the temperature, acidity of the environment and the content of heavy metals. The best results were at 30 degrees Celsius in a slightly acidic environment with a uranium concentration of 0.2 grams per liter. Its granules accumulate in the walls of bacteria, reaching 174 mg per gram of bacteria dry weight. In addition, the bacterium captures copper, lead and cadmium and other heavy metals from the environment. The discovery can serve as a basis for the development of new methods of wastewater treatment from heavy metals.

Two species of bacteria unknown to science found in Antarctica
The new microorganisms Sejongia jeonnii and Sejongia antarctica are gram-negative bacteria containing a yellow pigment.

So many bacteria on the skin!
On the skin of rodent mole rats, there are up to 516,000 bacteria per square inch; on dry areas of the skin of the same animal, for example, on the front paws, there are only 13,000 bacteria per square inch.

Bacteria against ionizing radiation
The microorganism Deinococcus radiodurans is capable of withstanding 1.5 million rads. ionizing radiation exceeding the lethal level for other life forms by more than 1000 times. While the DNA of other organisms will be destroyed and destroyed, the genome of this microorganism will not be damaged. The secret of such stability lies in the specific shape of the genome, which resembles a circle. It is this fact that contributes to such resistance to radiation.

Microorganisms against termites
Formosan (USA) termite control agent uses natural enemies of termites - several types of bacteria and fungi that infect and kill them. After an insect is infected, fungi and bacteria settle in its body, forming colonies. When an insect dies, its remains become a source of spores that infect fellow insects. Microorganisms were selected that reproduce relatively slowly - the infected insect should have time to return to the nest, where the infection will be transmitted to all members of the colony.

Microorganisms live at the pole
Microbial colonies have been found on rocks near the north and south poles. These places are not very suitable for life - the combination of extremely low temperatures, strong winds and harsh ultraviolet radiation looks awesome. But 95 percent of the rocky plains studied by scientists are inhabited by microorganisms!

These microorganisms have enough of the light that enters under the stones through the gaps between them, reflecting from the surfaces of neighboring stones. Due to temperature changes (the stones are heated by the sun and cool down when it is not), there are shifts in stone placers, some stones are in complete darkness, while others, on the contrary, fall into the light. After such shifts, microorganisms "migrate" from darkened stones to illuminated ones.

Bacteria live in slag heaps
The most alkali-loving living organisms on the planet live in polluted water in the United States. Scientists have discovered microbial communities thriving in slag heaps in the Calume Lake area of ​​southwest Chicago, where the water's pH is 12.8. Living in such an environment is comparable to living in caustic soda or floor washing liquid. In such dumps, air and water react with slags, in which calcium hydroxide (caustic soda) is formed, which increases the pH. The bacterium was discovered in a study of contaminated groundwater from more than a century of industrial iron dumps from Indiana and Illinois.

Genetic analysis has shown that some of these bacteria are close relatives of Clostridium and Bacillus species. These species have previously been found in the acidic waters of Mono Lake in California, tuff pillars in Greenland, and cement-contaminated waters of a deep gold mine in Africa. Some of these organisms use hydrogen released during the corrosion of metallic iron slags. How exactly the unusual bacteria got into the slag heaps remains a mystery. It is possible that the native bacteria have adapted to their extreme habitat over the past century.

Microbes determine water pollution
Modified E. coli bacteria are grown in an environment with pollutants and their amount is determined at different points in time. Bacteria have a built-in gene that allows cells to glow in the dark. By the brightness of the glow, you can judge their number. Bacteria are frozen in polyvinyl alcohol, then they can withstand low temperatures without serious damage. They are then thawed, grown in suspension, and used in research. In a polluted environment, cells grow worse and die more often. The number of dead cells depends on the time and degree of contamination. These indicators differ for heavy metals and organic substances. For any substance, the rate of death and the dependence of the number of dead bacteria on the dose are different.

Viruses have
... a complex structure of organic molecules, what is even more important - the presence of its own, viral genetic code and the ability to reproduce.

Origin of viruses
It is generally accepted that viruses originated as a result of the isolation (autonomization) of individual genetic elements of the cell, which, in addition, received the ability to be transmitted from organism to organism. The size of viruses varies from 20 to 300 nm (1 nm = 10–9 m). Almost all viruses are smaller in size than bacteria. However, the largest viruses, such as the vaccinia virus, are the same size as the smallest bacteria (chlamydia and rickettsia.

Viruses - a form of transition from mere chemistry to life on Earth
There is a version that viruses arose once a very long time ago - thanks to the intracellular complexes that gained freedom. Inside a normal cell, there is a movement of many different genetic structures (messenger RNA, etc., etc.), which can be the progenitors of viruses. But, perhaps, everything was quite the opposite - and viruses are the oldest form of life, or rather the transitional stage from "just chemistry" to life on Earth.
Even the origin of the eukaryotes themselves (and, therefore, of all unicellular and multicellular organisms, including you and me), some scientists associate with viruses. It is possible that we appeared as a result of the "collaboration" of viruses and bacteria. The first provided genetic material, and the second - ribosomes - protein intracellular factories.

Viruses cannot
... reproduce on their own - for them, it is done by the internal mechanisms of the cell that the virus infects. The virus itself cannot work with its genes either - it is not able to synthesize proteins, although it has a protein shell. It simply steals ready-made proteins from cells. Some viruses even contain carbohydrates and fats - but again stolen ones. Outside the victim cell, the virus is just a giant accumulation of very complex molecules, but you don’t have a metabolism, or any other active actions.

Surprisingly, the simplest creatures on the planet (we will still conventionally call viruses creatures) are one of the biggest mysteries of science.

The largest Mimi virus, or Mimivirus
... (which causes an outbreak of influenza) is 3 times more than other viruses, 40 times more than others. It carries 1260 genes (1.2 million "letter" bases, which is more than other bacteria), while known viruses have only three to a hundred genes. At the same time, the genetic code of a virus consists of DNA and RNA, while all known viruses use only one of these "tablets of life", but never both together. 50 Mimi genes are responsible for things that have never been seen in viruses before. In particular, Mimi is capable of independently synthesizing 150 types of proteins and even repairing its own damaged DNA, which is generally nonsense for viruses.

Changes in the genetic code of viruses can make them deadly
American scientists experimented with the modern flu virus - a nasty and severe, but not too lethal disease - by crossing it with the virus of the infamous "Spanish flu" of 1918. The modified virus killed mice on the spot with symptoms characteristic of the "Spanish flu" (acute pneumonia and internal bleeding). At the same time, its differences from the modern virus at the genetic level turned out to be minimal.

More people died from the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918 than during the worst medieval epidemics of plague and cholera, and even more than front-line losses in the First World War. Scientists suggest that the Spanish flu virus could have arisen from the so-called "bird flu" virus, combining with a common virus, for example, in the body of pigs. If avian flu successfully interbreeds with human flu and gets the opportunity to pass from person to person, then we get a disease that can cause a global pandemic and kill several million people.

The strongest poison
... now considered to be the toxin of bacillus D. 20 mg of it is enough to poison the entire population of the Earth.

Viruses can swim
Eight types of phage viruses live in Ladoga waters, differing in shape, size and length of legs. Their number is much higher than typical for fresh water: from two to twelve billion particles per liter of sample. In some samples there were only three types of phages, their highest content and diversity was in the central part of the reservoir, all eight types. Usually the opposite happens, there are more microorganisms in the coastal areas of lakes.

Silence of viruses
Many viruses, such as herpes, have two phases in their development. The first occurs immediately after infection of the new host and does not last long. Then the virus, as it were, "falls silent" and quietly accumulates in the body. The second can begin in a few days, weeks or years, when the "silent" virus for the time being begins to multiply like an avalanche and causes a disease. The presence of a "latent" phase protects the virus from extinction when the host population quickly becomes immune to it. The more unpredictable the external environment is from the point of view of the virus, the more important it is for it to have a period of "silence".

Viruses play an important role
In the life of any reservoir, viruses play an important role. Their number reaches several billion particles per liter of sea water in polar, temperate and tropical latitudes. In freshwater lakes, the virus content is usually less than 100 times. Why there are so many viruses in Ladoga and they are so unusually distributed remains to be seen. But researchers have no doubt that microorganisms have a significant impact on the ecological state of natural water.

A positive reaction to a source of mechanical vibrations was found in an ordinary amoeba
Amoeba proteus is a freshwater amoeba about 0.25 mm long, one of the most common species of the group. It is often used in school experiments and for laboratory research. The common amoeba is found in the mud at the bottom of ponds with polluted water. It looks like a small, colorless gelatinous lump, barely visible to the naked eye.

In the common amoeba (Amoeba proteus), the so-called vibrotaxis was found in the form of a positive reaction to a source of mechanical vibrations with a frequency of 50 Hz. This becomes clear if we consider that in some species of ciliates that serve as food for the amoeba, the frequency of the beating of cilia fluctuates between 40 and 60 Hz. The amoeba also exhibits negative phototaxis. This phenomenon consists in the fact that the animal tries to move from the illuminated area to the shade. Thermotaxis in the amoeba is also negative: it moves from a warmer to a less heated part of the water body. It is interesting to observe the galvanotaxis of the amoeba. If a weak electric current is passed through the water, the amoeba releases pseudopods only from the side that faces the negative pole - the cathode.

The largest amoeba
One of the largest amoebas is the freshwater species Pelomyxa (Chaos) carolinensis, 2–5 mm long.

Amoeba moves
The cytoplasm of the cell is in constant motion. If the current of the cytoplasm rushes to one point on the surface of the amoeba, a protrusion appears on its body in this place. It increases, becomes an outgrowth of the body - a pseudopod, cytolasm flows into it, and the amoeba moves in this way.

Midwife for amoeba
The amoeba is a very simple organism, consisting of a single cell that reproduces by simple division. First, the amoeba cell doubles its genetic material, creating a second nucleus, and then changes shape, forming a constriction in the middle, which gradually divides it into two daughter cells. Between them there is a thin bundle, which they pull in different directions. In the end, the ligament breaks, and the daughter cells begin an independent life.

But in some species of amoeba, the process of reproduction is not at all so simple. Their daughter cells cannot break the ligament on their own and sometimes merge again into one cell with two nuclei. The dividing amoebas cry out for help by releasing a special chemical to which the "midwife amoeba" responds. Scientists believe that, most likely, this is a complex of substances, including fragments of proteins, lipids and sugars. Apparently, when an amoeba cell divides, its membrane experiences tension, which causes the release of a chemical signal into the external environment. Then the dividing amoeba is helped by another, which comes in response to a special chemical signal. It is introduced between dividing cells and puts pressure on the ligament until it breaks.

living fossils
The most ancient of them are radiolarians, single-celled organisms covered with a shell-like growth with an admixture of silica, the remains of which were found in Precambrian deposits, whose age is from one to two billion years.

The most enduring
The tardigrade, an animal less than half a millimeter long, is considered the hardiest life form on Earth. This animal can withstand temperatures from 270 degrees Celsius to 151 degrees, exposure to X-rays, vacuum conditions and pressures six times the pressure at the bottom of the deepest ocean. Tardigrades can live in gutters and in cracks in masonry. Some of these little creatures came to life after a century of hibernation in the dry moss of museum collections.

Acantharia (Acantharia), the simplest organisms related to radiolarians, reach a length of 0.3 mm. Their skeleton is made up of strontium sulfate.

The total mass of phytoplankton is only 1.5 billion tons, while the mass of zoopalkton is 20 billion tons.

The speed of movement of ciliates-shoes (Paramecium caudatum) is 2 mm per second. This means that the shoe swims in a second a distance 10-15 times greater than the length of its body. There are 12 thousand cilia on the surface of the ciliates-shoes.

Euglena green (Euglena viridis) can serve as a good indicator of the degree of biological water purification. With a decrease in bacterial pollution, its number increases sharply.

What were the earliest forms of life on earth?
Creatures that are neither plants nor animals are called rangeomorphs. They first settled on the ocean floor about 575 million years ago, after the last global glaciation (this time is called the Ediacaran period), and were among the first soft-bodied creatures. This group existed until 542 million years ago, when rapidly reproducing modern animals displaced most of these species.

Organisms were collected in fractal patterns of branching parts. They were unable to move and did not have reproductive organs, but multiplied, apparently creating new offshoots. Each branching element consisted of many tubes held together by a semi-rigid organic skeleton. Scientists have found rangeomorphs, collected in several different forms, which, he believes, collected food in different layers of the water column. The fractal pattern appears to be quite complex, but according to the researcher, the similarity of organisms to each other made a simple genome sufficient to create new free-floating branches and to connect branches into more complex structures.

The fractal organism found in Newfoundland was 1.5 centimeters wide and 2.5 centimeters long.
Such organisms accounted for up to 80% of all living in the Ediacaran when there were no mobile animals. However, with the advent of more mobile organisms, their decline began, and as a result they were completely supplanted.

Deep under the ocean floor there is immortal life
Under the surface of the bottom of the seas and oceans there is a whole biosphere. It turns out that at depths of 400-800 meters below the bottom, in the thickness of ancient sediments and rocks, myriads of bacteria live. The age of some specific specimens is estimated at 16 million years. They are practically immortal, scientists say.

Researchers believe that it was in such conditions, in the depths of bottom rocks, that life originated more than 3.8 billion years ago and only later, when the environment on the surface became habitable, did it master the ocean and land. Traces of life (fossils) in bottom rocks taken from a very great depth under the bottom surface have been found by scientists for a long time. Collected mass of samples in which they found living microorganisms. Including - in rocks raised from depths of more than 800 meters below the ocean floor. Some sediment samples were many millions of years old, which meant that, for example, a bacterium trapped in such a sample had the same age. About a third of the bacteria that scientists have found in deep bottom rocks are alive. In the absence of sunlight, the source of energy for these creatures is various geochemical processes.

The bacterial biosphere located under the seabed is very large and outnumbers all bacteria living on land. Therefore, it has a noticeable effect on geological processes, on the balance of carbon dioxide, and so on. Perhaps, the researchers suggest, without such underground bacteria, we would not have oil and gas.