Rare Bacteria Known to Survive Solely on Air in Antarctica, Now Found Elsewhere

Bacteria are often associated with either dirt or an illness. For many years, people have tried to eradicate whatever illness-causing bacteria they know. For some types, scientists have attempted to uncover some benefits for humans.

Bacteria help humans digest the food, feed trees with nitrogen, and contribute to the cycle of nutrients on Earth. Some are known to survive extreme conditions. Recently, scientists have discovered some bacteria that can live by just air alone.

Rare Bacteria Found in Icy Regions

In 2017, researchers discovered a new type of bacterium in Antarctica that can survive solely off the chemicals found in the air. These bacteria exist off a diet of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen.

Now, a new study reveals that they could not only be found in Antarctica but also in other icy regions of the Earth. These are the Arctic, Antarctic, and the Tibetan Plateau.

The researchers noted that these bacteria likely play an essential role in stimulating the life around them as they have been detected in very low nutrient environments.

Microbiologist Belinda Ferrari of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) explained that there might be some organisms relying on these microbes. As these bacteria breathe in hydrogen gas to turn into carbon dioxide, the organisms around them can use it to flourish.

This process is called atmospheric chemosynthesis. That is a combination of photosynthesis and geothermal chemotherapy, which is another way primary producers make organic building blocks to grow and for energy storage from the reactions based on inorganic materials.

These bacteria oxidize hydrogen from the atmosphere to create a series of reactions, converting carbon dioxide into living tissues that other organisms can consume.

"We think this process occurs simultaneously alongside photosynthesis when conditions change, such as during the polar winter when there is no light," Ferrari said.

The fact that these microbes are detected in the soils of the three most icy regions of the planet could mean that this new process likely occurs as well in cold deserts but was simply overlooked not until now.

READ: Scientists Discover Bacteria that Eats Metal and Produces Manganese Oxide

The Role of These Microbes on the Planet

The researchers also found that the process these microbes eat reveals that they can be a potential carbon sink since they are found in many parts of the world. Ferrari said that their study shows that atmospheric chemosynthesis contributes to the global carbon budget.

Ferrari and together with microbial ecologist Angelique Ray and their colleagues examined 122 soil samples from the cold deserts for genes of this unique bacteria linked to atmospheric chemosynthesis. These regions are exposed to freeze-thaw cycles, scorching heat of the sun, and very low moisture, carbon and nitrogen levels.

In these sites, the researchers were able to find the genes of the microbes they were looking for. They think that these bacteria that use low-resource carbon fixation strategy may also be found in nutrient-starved desert regions set to increase in population because of global warming.