News

A TEAM OF researchers led by PSU microbiologist Anna-Louise Reysenbach have discovered and characterized the first acid-loving microbes living at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. The results of the study were published in the July issue of Nature.

In the past, microbes discovered in hot sea vents existed in a pH-neutral environment; however, the mudpots in Yellowstone National Park are teaming with acid-loving microbes. This inconsistency has now been put to rest.

Reysenbach's team found the microbes in newly discovered deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the southwestern Pacific Ocean between Tonga and Fiji. Once the microbes were cultured and characterized in Reysenbach's PSU laboratory, she was able to confirm that the organism is found at all deep-sea vent sites thus far studied in the world's oceans.

Understanding how life survives in such environments can lead to a better understanding of how life exists on other planets, and study of the microbes may have applications in the emerging field of bio-mining and its extraction of metals from low-grade ores.

Reysenbach is one of several researchers at Portland State studying life in extreme environments. For more information on her research, visit www.alrlab.pdx.edu.