Most life on Earth relies on the sun’s energy for survival, but what about organisms in the deep sea that live beyond the reach of its rays?
Most life on Earth relies on the sun’s energy for survival, but what about organisms in the deep sea that live beyond the reach of its rays? A new study led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), published in The ISME Journal, sheds light on how a species of foraminifera, single-celled organisms found in almost all marine habitats, thrives in a dark, oxygen-free environment.
For this foraminifera species, the answer is chemoautotrophy, a metabolic process that utilizes inorganic energy sources, perhaps sulfide, to take up carbon, enabling it to survive in oxygen-free environments. Chemoautotrophy has been observed within Bacteria and Archaea, which are microbial organisms without a true nucleus. However, foraminifera are eukaryotes, meaning they have a well-defined nucleus, which houses an organism's genetic material.
Read More: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
At depth, the team utilized modified push cores, or injector cores, to collect sediment samples covered with a white bacterial mat. (Photo Credit: Ocean Exploration Trust, NOAA Ocean Exploration, and NASA)
