Thursday, 17 December, 2020 - 07:35
Scientists have discovered dozens of new species of microbes thriving in hot springs on a submarine volcano in the Kermadec arc.
The joint New Zealand-US investigation of Brothers seafloor volcano, 400km northeast of the Bay of Plenty coast, discovered more than 90 new bacterial and archaeal families, and nearly 300 previously unknown genera in the mineral-rich hydrothermal fluids being expelled by the volcano.
The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, would add to the understanding of the evolution of life on Earth and the factors that shape microbial communities in extreme environments such as hot springs in the deep sea, said Cornel de Ronde of GNS Science who co-led the 2018 voyage to Brothers volcano.