"These bacteria get their carbon from carbon dioxide just like plants do," says Boden... "But unlike plants, they obviously can't use photosynthesis as there is no light. They get the energy needed… from chemical reactions: the key ones being the oxidation of sulphide and similar sulphur ions into sulphuric acid, or the oxidation of ammonium found in the groundwaters to nitrate."
"This may all sound very peculiar, and in some ways it is... But according to microbiologist J. Colin Murrell of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, the bacteria in Movile Cave are remarkably simple and not at all unusual. "Methanotrophs are everywhere: the Roman Baths at Bath, the surface of seawater, the mouths of cattle and probably the human mouth and gut," says Boden. "Autotrophic bacteria of the same types we found at Movile are found in almost all soils and on the surface of the skin."
The bacteria's ability to oxidise methane and carbon dioxide is of particular interest. These two greenhouse gases are the biggest culprits for global warming, so researchers are desperate to find efficient ways to remove them from the atmosphere.
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150904-the-bizarre-beasts-living-in-romanias-poison-cave
Among organisms that do photosynthesize, cultivars of at least one, Chlorobium, use the IR from hot smokers at the bottom of the sea as their light source.
ReplyDeleteJust in case you are looking for further examples of the so-called weird.