Discovery of stromatolite-like biofilms in thermal waters sheds light on ancient ecosystems
Hungarian researchers have discovered unique bacterial communities in thermal waters that may help unravel the development of stromatolites, one of Earth's oldest rock formations. These findings not only contribute to understanding Earth's geological past but also provide valuable insights into biological and geological processes occurring in extreme environments today.
Hot springs bubble up insights into microbe communities
Boiling hot water bubbles up into pools of vibrant teal and blue. The steam rises, burning anyone who gets too close. The water is acidic—sometimes as acidic as stomach acid. Microbes in a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park have evolved to live in such extreme circumstances.
Volcanic hot springs-dwelling algae reveal photosynthetic insights
Italy's Phlegraean Fields is a hotspot of volcanic activity—an ever-shifting landscape pocketed with acidic hot springs. This huge caldera is a part of the Campanian volcanic arc, which includes Mount Vesuvius, whose eruption wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii in 79 C.E. Yet, despite the hostile and scalding conditions of this environment, some microorganisms thrive.
Structures of a β-glucosidase from the thermophilic bacterium C. saccharolyticus and its complex with glucose, the product of its catalytic action using lactose as a substrate, were determined
#Biocatalysis #Glucosidases #Thermophiles https://doi.org/10.1107/S2059798324008519
Robust and automatic beamstop shadow outlier rejection: combining crystallographic statistics with modern clustering under a semi-supervised learning strategy
Beamstops and beamstop shadows can lead to erroneous reflection measurements in crystallographic diffraction experiments, which is a common problem in data processing. Here, a method is presented that combines crystallographic statistics with machine learning to robustly detect such reflections.
12-OCT-2023
Extreme habitats: Microbial life in Old Faithful Geyser
New research presented at GSA Connects 2023
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1004465 #science #LifeOnTheEdge #extremophiles #geysers #thermophiles
Extreme habitats: Microbial life in Old Faithful Geyser
<p>An eruption of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park is a sight to behold. Indeed, millions of tourists flock to the park each year to see it. Hot water and steam are ejected in the air to a height of 100–180 feet approximately every 90 minutes. Many adjectives come to mind to describe it: powerful, mesmerizing, unique, otherworldly . . . homey? Not so much. Yet new research by Lisa M. Keller, published on <a href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/3/pgad066/7069836">PNAS Nexus</a> earlier this year and to be presented on Sunday at the Geological Society of America’s GSA Connects 2023 meeting, shows that for some microbial life forms, Old Faithful Geyser is exactly that: home.</p>
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