New bacteria Hadesarchaea are bacteria living deep under earth with no light, no oxygen
Q. Hadesarchaea are- Published on 19 Feb 16a. Bacteria living deep under earth
b. Bacteria living in light
c. Aerobic bacteria
d. None of the above
ANSWER: Bacteria living deep under earth
- Scientists have discovered a group of microbes that live several kilometres under the surface of the Earth, need no light or oxygen and can only be seen in a microscope.
- The researchers have also found how the microorganisms, named Hadesarchaea, first discovered in a South African gold mine at a depth of over three kilometres, are able to make a living in the absence of oxygen and light.
- The Hadesarchaea belong to a relatively unknown group of microorganisms, the archaea. Like bacteria, archaea are single-celled and microscopically small, but they differ more from each other than a human does from a tree.
- Researchers found these microbes in vastly different aquatic and terrestrial environments; the deep mud of a temperate estuary in North Carolina and underneath hot springs at Yellowstone National Park in US.
- The scientists suggest that they are able to survive there by using carbon monoxide to gain energy.
