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Global warming is a problem with which the scientific community has spent years struggling and conducting research to try to solve its effects on the planet. In this line, a new work, this time by specialists from the University of Texas on the discovery of two dozen new types of microbes in the Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California, opens new hopes for how we deal with climate change.
The work, published in Nature Communications this week, explains how new species discovered use hydrocarbons such as methane and butane to survive and grow, allowing these bacteria to limit the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and become one day the key to clean up oil spills.
Reproduction University of Texas Brett Baker. According to the report, these new microbial species are so genetically different from those previously studied that they represent new branches in the tree of life.
About the job, the principal investigator of the University of Texas team, Brett Baker, said that "This shows that deep oceans contain a great deal of unexplored biodiversity and that microscopic organisms are capable of degrading oil and other harmful chemicals."
"Under the seafloor, there are now huge reservoirs of hydrocarbon gases, including methane, propane, butane and others, and these microbes prevent greenhouse gases from occurring." to be released into the atmosphere. "
Two thousand meters under the surface
The analysis of the researchers was carried out in the sediments of the seabed located two thousand meters below the surface where volcanic activity raises temperatures to around 200 degrees Celsius.
Reproduction University of Texas Brett Baker. The group managed to collect 551 genomes, 22 of whichEgun Baker is genetically different to represent new branches in the tree of life, and some were different enough to represent a completely new phyla.
The samples were taken from the Alvin submarine, the same submarine that discovered Titanic, because the microbes live in extreme environments.
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