Once a microbe is finally accepted as a valid new species, says Hoover, the years of intense labwork and wallowing in smelly lake mud suddenly become worthwhile. This includes identifying its growth requirements and metabolism, colonial habit, cellular characteristics, DNA and genome properties, and sensitivity to antibiotics for detailed comparison with other known life forms.'īefore a life form can be considered a valid new genus or species, it must be deposited in two separate International Collections of Microorganisms and a scientific paper describing all new features of the organism must be either published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology or, if published in another journal, it must be verified by the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP), the clearinghouse for bacterial species. 'For an organism to be identified and then recognized as a new species, it must be completely understood. 'The battery of tests required to identify a particular species in a sample is extensive,' says Pikuta. 'These species are killed by the presence of oxygen, so great care must be taken to protect them.'īelow: A false-color electron micrograph image of Tindallia californiensis. 'Collecting samples from the muddy bottom of this lake and keeping them alive can be tricky business,' says Hoover. Finding new species in this abundant collection of microbial life is a detective story worthy of Perry Mason or Hercule Poirot.

californiensis and perhaps hundreds of other microbial species in Mono Lake mud samples. It thrives in highly alkaline conditions (pH 8-10.5) and at salt concentrations near 20%.Įarlier this year Hoover and Pikuta announced another strange microbe: Spirochaeta americana. (For comparison, a pH of 7 is neutral 14 corresponds to pure lye.) Surprisingly, though, Mono Lake supports a wide array of life from microbes, to plankton, to small shrimp. It is almost 3 times saltier than sea water and has a pH of 10, about the same as Windex TM, a household glass cleaner. Mono Lake is an extremely salty and alkaline body of water.

Left: Elena Pikuta and Richard Hoover in their laboratory at the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC). This month they've announced a new species of extreme-loving microorganism, Tindallia californiensis, found in California's Mono Lake. NASA scientists Richard Hoover and Elena Pikuta are among the hunters. Finding extreme life here on Earth tells us what kind of conditions might suit life 'out there.' Searching for life in the Universe is one of NASA's most important research activities. To find out how big, researchers are going deeper, climbing higher, and looking in the nooks and crannies of our own planet. The Goldilocks Zone is bigger than we thought. Whole ecosystems have been discovered around deep sea vents where sunlight never reaches and the emerging vent-water is hot enough to melt lead. Scientists have found microbes in nuclear reactors, microbes that love acid, microbes that swim in boiling-hot water. In the past 30 years, however, our knowledge of life in extreme environments has exploded. All life known in those days was confined to certain limits: no colder than Antarctica (penguins), no hotter than scalding water (desert lizards), no higher than the clouds (eagles), no lower than a few mines (deep mine microbes). The Goldilocks Zone seemed a remarkably small region of space. Sign up for EXPRESS SCIENCE NEWS delivery

Goldilocks zone