NASA Scientists Discover A New Extreme-Loving Microorganism In California's Mono Lake

In message , Ron Baalke
writes
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...l_monolake.htm

A New Form of Life
NASA Science News
July 30, 2003

NASA scientists have discovered a new extreme-loving microorganism
in California's exotic Mono Lake

It was a quick visit--only one day at the lake to collect samples of
water and mud, then back to the lab in Huntsville, Alabama, for analysis.
But that was enough for a discovery. Deep in the lake's salty alkaline
mud where no oxygen could reach, he uncovered a new species of living
bacteria: Spirochaeta americana.

"These extremely thin and graceful bacteria move with an elegant motion,"
marvels microbiologist Elena Pikuta of the NSSTC, who cultured the
samples. "Their cell walls are very delicate, and it is difficult to keep
them alive for long periods in the laboratory."

The lab is probably too comfortable for anything stubborn enough to live
in Mono Lake--or so Twain might say. Pikuta's rare gift for isolating and
growing such microbes in a laboratory was crucial to the discovery, notes
Hoover.

The genus Spirochaeta includes 13 species of bacteria. Not all of them
live in harsh places like Mono Lake. Some thrive in ordinary freshwater
mud--the kind kids love to play in. Most, however, love extreme environments.
Spirochaeta thermophila, for instance, can be found in the high-pressure
mud around deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Another example: Spirochaeta
bajacaliforniensis thrives without oxygen in the sulfurous muds of Baja
California. All Spirochaeta are resistant to high sulfide concentrations.
Hot, salty mud stinking of sulfur seems to be a good home for these
creatures.

I notice they don't mention S pallidum, the most notorious spirochaete.
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