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Life and hydrothermal vents
Name: williamh
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: Around 1993
Question:
Are there biological communities near hydrothermal vents in the
ocean? Is there any life inside the hydrothermal vent?
Replies:
If the presence of microorganisms in hot springs and geysers are
any indication, I am certain there is life inside hydrothermal vents. These
heat loving organisms are termed "thermophiles" and thrive where other life
dies. They are able to survive in extreme heat due to the unique way their
proteins are synthesized. The May 1993 Discover has a special article on
thermophiles.
wizkid
Life at high temperature became very interesting to molecular
biologists recently. The enormously useful technique known as PCR,
(polymerase chain reaction), by which very small amounts of rare DNA can be
amplified to large concentrations (Jurassic Park!), depends on having a DNA
polymerase (the enzyme that synthesizes complementary DNA strands during
replication of chromosomes), that can work at high temperatures, or at least
can survive repeated high temperature cycles. PCR depends on synthesis of DNA
followed by forced separation of the daughter strands at high temperature,
followed by new synthesis, to amplify DNA exponentially. At any rate, normal
bacterial polymerase will not work because the high temperature cycles kill
it. Enter the now infamous, patented Taq polymerase, isolated from Thermus
aquaticus, a hot spring bacterium, which works after heating to up to 94 C!
So knowledge of life at high temperature allowed molecular biologists to get
PCR to work, with all its benefits in cloning very rare genes and amplifying
small amounts of DNA for forensic work etc.
moodywj
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Update: June 2012
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