Life is in places where it is impossible

Scientists have long found life in places where it is hard to believe there is life. In essence, life can exist in almost every place on this Earth.

After three billion years of evolution, life has spread to every corner of the Earth, from the sea floor to the stratosphere, from the extreme heat and the cold to the acidic environment, the radiation environment. It seems that no pressure can resist the life of microorganisms.

The following pictures show several varieties of bacteria and ancient microorganisms ( archaea ), a branch that is less noticeable but relatively large in the prokaryotes. Until the late 70s of the last century, ancient microorganisms were still mistaken for bacteria. Only less than 1% of the Earth's microorganisms are identified, and most of them cannot grow in the laboratory environment.

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In some cases, these types of microorganisms are considered to have specific longevity, but that label will most likely not be true. Nearly every month, there are a few new characteristic species that make up a biological milestone.

In fact, the concept of species may not be applicable. Bacteria and ancient microorganisms exchange genes in horizontal rows without the need for reproduction. It is as if while meeting someone on the street, you can exchange any useful gene at that time. This contrasts with the concept of animal-based species, and some biologists want to remove both concepts at the same time.

Talking about the common bacterium Escherichia coli, the pioneer biologist Lynn Margulis once said: ' If you implant the plasmid gene into E. coli, you will have Klebsiella and not E. coli. You have changed not only the species but also the genes. This is similar to transforming a human into an ape. Can you imagine that, put an ape in the refrigerator, and the next morning you open a refrigerator to see a human? '

It's hard to imagine that. And the concept of microbes / bacteria like a mechanism spreading on Earth may take time to get used to. Here are some examples of great adaptations of life.

It is often thought that ancient microorganisms have a simpler structure than bacteria, and bacteria have a cell nucleus. Both of these are not true. They vary widely but not in such a hierarchy.

However, the common point between ancient microorganisms and bacteria is the lack of a cell nucleus or cell membrane structures. Only eukaryotic cells have such structures.

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Herminiimonas glaciei, discovered under the ice more than 1km deep below Greenland.This is one of the smallest bacteria ever found.With long whips, which look like a tail, the bacteria can move easily through small veins in the ice.

In a recent study in the International Journal of Microbiology's Evolution and System, H. Glaciei was clarified by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) after about 120,000 years of neglect.Last June, a similar study also showed that bacteria were found under the ice and could survive in the laboratory environment, which is Chryseobacterium greenlandensis.They think this bacterium could exist millions of years ago.

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Pyrodictium abyssi, found in 1979 on nutrient-rich soils of deep ocean craters, is the origin of extremophile microorganisms (microorganisms that can survive in harsh conditions like hydrothermal or geothermal area).Besides enduring atmospheric pressure that can break a submarine, this microorganism can survive at temperatures higher than the boiling temperature of water.

Flat P. Abyssi microorganisms, disc-shaped and often appear in pit networks or tubular structures called cannulae - structures with high resistance to temperature.

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Deinococcus peraridilitoris - the longest living bacterium on Earth named in the world record Guinness, is the lesser known 'brother' of Deinococcus radiodurans.This bacterium was found in 2003 from the Atacama desert, a very dry Chile territory and isolated by the US Aeronautics Agency (NASA) as being similar to Mars's surface.The bacteria can withstand cold air, dust, drought and radiation.The existence of this type of bacteria is mainly derived from copies of the genome, when a plate is destroyed, the genome that is destroyed can be copied from another version.

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Haloquadratum walsbyi is found on a salty surface near the Red Sea, a environment so salty that all other creatures on Earth will "curl" in such a lifeless bag.In such a salty environment, the absolute square and flat ancient microorganisms that we are talking about have the highest ratio of volume and area among any living thing on Earth.


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Halobacterium NRC-1 is the most radiant resistance mechanism on Earth, it is able to withstand radiation of 18,000 Gy (while humans can die with radiation of 10 Gy).Meanwhile, microorganisms D. Radiodurans - discovered in the 1950s as the only surviving species in the radiation environment - are only able to withstand half the radiation of Halobacterium NRC-1 ability. .Like D. radiodurans and D. peraridilitoris, Halobacterium NRC-1 is capable of replicating its own DNA.


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Ferroplasma acidophilum can grow in a zero pH environment (in this environment, sulfuric acid looks like mineral water).This microorganism is found in the toxic flow of a gold mine in California (USA).Ferroplasma acidophilum uses iron as a central structural factor for most of its protein.

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Desulforudis audaxviator is probably the most essential single bacteria.Other types of microorganisms are known to exist in a system where at least some nutrients are provided by other species of song.But D. audaxviator, discovered in South Africa, two miles below the ground is very different.Using radiant energy from rocks containing uranium, this bacterium can take the kind of nutrients it needs from rocks and gas around it.This is also the only individual unit ecosystem known in the world.