Article: Bacteria Pull Off Photosynthesis sans Sunlight
- From: "Robert Karl Stonjek" <rstonjek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 01:22:30 -0400 (EDT)
Bacteria Pull Off Photosynthesis sans Sunlight
In the textbook description of photosynthesis, sunlight fuels the production
of sugars that are in turn converted into fuel for the photosynthetic
organism. But a recent discovery from the deep blue sea may force a revision
of that account. Scientists have found a photosynthetic bacterium that
doesn't live off the light of the sun. Instead, it uses the dim light given
off by hydrothermal vents some 2,400 meters below the ocean's surface.
J. Thomas Beatty of the University of British Columbia and his colleagues
first encountered the bacterium, GSB1, in samples collected from a vent
field called 9 North, which is located off the coast of Mexico. The bacteria
thrive in the scalding water shooting from the vent, which reaches
temperatures near 300 degrees Celsius. DNA analysis identified the organism
as a member of the green sulfur bacteria family that relies solely on
photosynthesis to survive. "This is startling in the sense that you do not
expect to find photosynthesis in a region of the world that is so completely
dark," remarks study co-author Robert Blankenship of Arizona State
University.
Full Text at Scientific American
http://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe521674706d0d757110-fe3016707360067c711779
Posted By
Robert Karl Stonjek
.
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