Alcanivorax Borkumensis
Stars
Microbes
Jim Foley
What are microbes?*
 Single-celled organisms.
 Majority of the life on Earth in terms of mass.
 First living organisms to develop.
Role in Ecology*
 Nearly all microbes are either decomposers or
producers.
 They play major roles in maintaining the
nitrogen and carbon cycles and decomposing
organisms.
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Evolution*
 Microbes are the oldest organism on earth specifically
3.3 billion years.
 Without them evolution would never have taken place.
 The first micro-organisms were photosynthetic
Cyano-bacteria.
Deep Sea*
 Life for microbes in the deep ocean is intense.
 Several factors in their environment are:
immense pressure, complete darkness, and
limited chemicals and nutrients. They are often
called “extremophiles.” (living in extreme
environments (salinity, temperature, pH,
pressure))
 The ocean is
separated into
multiple biospheres
or layers.
 Each of these have
their own unique
characteristics.
 Only areas that
receive significant
light (photic zone)
have primarily been
observed.
Microbes beneath the sea floor are a new area of
research by C-DEBI (Center for Dark Energy
Biosphere Investigations).
How do scientists search for and collect
microbes beneath the sea floor?
What We Learn from Ocean Drilling
Ocean drilling has:
Confirmed the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift.
Altered our thinking about the formation of geologic hazards like
earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis.
Discovered a vast and active biosphere of microbes living deep below
the seafloor, far deeper than scientists ever predicted life could exist.
These are unknown microbes with an estimated biomass greater than all
terrestrial life.
Provided major insights into the paleoclimate record—the changes to
our global climate that have occurred over the past 100 million years
and more.
12 billion light year corridor of space
12 billion microbes per liter
Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins.
Which of the two has the grander view?
Victor Hugo
Les Miserables (1862)