Bacteria sleep 100 million years in the Arctic Ocean

The thermophilic bacteria of the Arctic Ocean may have been ' sleeping ' for 100 million years to wait for ' waking up ' when the ambient temperature rises.

The bacteria have " slept " millions of years under the ocean. (Vietnamnet photo)

Professor Casey Hubert of the University of Newcastle, England, and his colleagues analyzed a bacterial population in sediment samples in the Arctic Ocean. Scientists have predicted that bacteria will become more flexible when the temperature rises to 20 degrees C (equivalent to 68 degrees F).

However, after that, something very unexpected happened. Sediment samples are heated at 55 degrees Celsius (131 degrees F) and the activity of the bacteria in the sediment sample has skyrocketed. In other words, bacteria in sediment samples are more active in high temperature environments. This is different from their ' sleep ' under the icy Arctic Ocean.

According to Discovery, Casey Hubert said that, in fact, these bacteria have developed strongly in hydrothermal vents in the low-lying areas of the ocean. Here the Earth's temperature will provide energy for them to survive, grow and reproduce. The increase in water level in hydrothermal vents has pushed them to the bottom of cold waters. When the temperature is low, these bacteria are still asleep, waiting for the temperature to rise to wake up.

The thermophilic bacteria that exist in the Arctic Ocean's sea may have followed such mechanisms. The sediment will bury bacteria until the temperature rises enough for them to wake up, grow and reproduce.

However, this process can take up to 100 million years. ' It's like a seed bank in sediment samples '. Spores can survive for millions of years to wait for the awakening process when there is a high temperature.