The newly awakened microbe Herminiimonas glaciei may contain clues to past climatic conditions on Earth - and even life on other planets.
Credit: Society for General Microbiology
Able to survive in limited space, with almost no nutrients, under high pressure at a shockingly low -56°C, this new species is undoubtedly unique, she said.
By unlocking the secrets to its success, the researchers hope to learn more about how life adapts to severe climates. "Glaciers provide the best records of past climates. The quantity and types of organisms deposited during different periods depends on the corresponding climate conditions," said Loveland-Curtze.
"These extremely cold environments are [also] the best analogues of possible extraterrestrial habitats," she added, and could give us clues of how to recognise alien life.
Staggeringly small
H. glaciei is staggeringly small, even by bacterial standards. 50 times smaller that E. coli, it can easily pass through standard sterilisation filters used in hospital. The researchers are quick to point out, however, that H. glaciei doesn't cause disease. They think its small size may help it inhabit niche environments by allowing it to take up nutrients efficiently.
Brent Christner, a microbiologist from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, is impressed. "We've been studying bacteria preserved in ancient ice for over a decade, and although we know these bugs can persist for extended time frames in ice, we still don't know how they do it," he said.
Christner, who was not involved in the research, said that the work may be a first step towards determining the traits that allow these microbes to survive frozen for millennia.
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