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Extreme organisms in the deep sea and underground: How do these microorganisms survive in ultra-high pressure and high temperatures?
Deep inside the Earth, there exists tiny life in extreme environments. This area, called the deep biosphere, includes areas several kilometers below the ocean surface and up to ten kilometers deep in the continents. Temperatures can reach 120°C and average water pressure can be a hundred times higher than at sea level. How microorganisms survive and reproduce in such a harsh environment has become an important topic for scientists to study.
What is the deep biosphere?
The deep biosphere is the component of the biosphere that includes all life forms that exist below ground. It rivals surface life, showing similar or even greater genetic diversity. Early discoveries date back to the 1920s, when scientists found signs of microbial activity in oil fields, but it wasn't until the 1980s, as technology improved, that the independence of these life forms was confirmed.
With the advancement of deep exploration technology, biologists no longer doubt the existence of life deep within the Earth.
Composition of the Deep Biosphere
The deep biosphere includes not only archaea and bacteria, but also certain multicellular life forms. Most of these microorganisms obtain energy through chemical reactions, usually using hydrogen, methane and some sulfides as the main carbon and energy sources.
Survival strategies of microorganisms
Deep life must adapt to extreme pressures and temperatures, which makes their metabolic rates hundreds of thousands of times slower than those of life on the surface. It is speculated that some cells can survive for thousands of years without dividing. These microorganisms use specialized metabolic pathways to obtain energy, such as chemical redox reactions using electron donors and electron acceptors.
The chemical reactions produced by microbial metabolism provide the deep biosphere with the necessary energy and nutrient sources.
Challenges of the Deep Environment
In this dark and cold world, the deep biosphere faces many challenges. The extreme conditions of temperature and pressure force life to change its metabolism and survival strategies. Excessive pressure makes the membrane structure inside the cell fragile and restricts the speed of chemical reactions. Therefore, these microorganisms must develop cell membranes that are resistant to high pressure to support their continued survival.
The source of energy for life
In deep environments lacking light, many microorganisms use chemosynthesis as a means of energy exchange. For example, the oxidation of methane is one of the main metabolic pathways, and the energy released in this process is sufficient to support the survival of microorganisms.
Organisms can exploit the backflow of chemical reactions to reproduce with extremely low energy requirements.
Diversity and importance of microorganisms
The microbial diversity of the deep biosphere has an important impact on the Earth's ecosystem. Until now, scientists are still exploring the life forms that may exist in these extreme environments. Microbial ecosystems have profound implications for our understanding of Earth's biology, geology and climate change, and may lead to some unexpected discoveries in the future.
Future Research Directions
With the development of scientific research and technology, human beings' understanding of these deep-sea and underground creatures will continue to deepen. The scientists hope to uncover deeper insights into microbial interactions and their possible applications, such as in environmental remediation and bioenergy production. Exploring these extreme environments will help us understand the diversity of life on our planet and even speculate whether similar life forms exist on other worlds.
In this unknown realm of life, can we uncover the mysteries of the deep biosphere?
