solid form at temperatures up to 120°C, with or without slight gas pressures (Deming and
Baross, 1986). Colony- forming units were observed in solid Gelrite pour tubes, incubated
2 d at a temperature range of 85-120°C, for the hottest Juan de Fuca water samples
(>250°C), but not the cooler ones (< 60°C). Colonies were also obtained in similar
fashion from the original culture of black smoker bacteria from 21°N, used in our high
temperature/pressure experiments (Baross and Deming 1983), and from the fluid remaining in the titanium syringe at the completion of our experiment at 250°C and 265 atm
(Baross and Deming 1983). Examples of these colonies are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 : Colony-forming units in a new medium, based on the highly thermostable solidifying agent GELRITE. The left tube was inoculated with the original culture of black smoker
bacteria from 21°N, after exposure to 250°C and
265 atm (Baross and Deming, 1983). It was incubated in a temperature gradient of 85°C (top) to
110°C (bottom). The middle tube was inoculated
with 250°C hydrothermal fluid from the Juan de
Fuca Ridge and immersed halfway into a 95°C oil
bath. The right tube is an uninoculated control,
similarly incubated at 95°C.
With the development of this new medium and a modified version of the hydrothermal
system used in the original experiments, we anticipate analyses of ultrastructure, optimal
growth conditions, and nucleic acids (especially 5S rRNA sequences) for black smoker
bacteria in the near future. Information will also be forthcoming from many other
laboratories, now actively engaged in studies of extreme thermophiles from smoker
environments and elsewhere. Data obtained very recently at the Johns Hopkins University demonstrated that pressures of 50-153 atm enhanced the survival and growth of the
well-known thermophilic archaebacterium, Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, at temperatures
above its maximum growth temperature at atmospheric pressure (Hurwitz 1985).
BAROSS J.A., and J.W. DEMING, 1983. Growth of “black smoker” bacteria at temperatures of at least 250°C.
Nature 303: 423-426.
BAROSS J.A., and S.E. HOFFMAN, 1985. Submarine hydrothermal vents and associated gradient environments
as sites for the origin and evolution of life. Origins of Life 15 : 327-345.
BAROSS J.A, M.D LILLEY, and L.I. GORDON, 1982. Is the CH
4
, H
2
and CO venting from submarine hydrothermal systems produced by thermophilic bacteria. Nature 298: 366-368.
330
Baross, 1986). Colony- forming units were observed in solid Gelrite pour tubes, incubated
2 d at a temperature range of 85-120°C, for the hottest Juan de Fuca water samples
(>250°C), but not the cooler ones (< 60°C). Colonies were also obtained in similar
fashion from the original culture of black smoker bacteria from 21°N, used in our high
temperature/pressure experiments (Baross and Deming 1983), and from the fluid remaining in the titanium syringe at the completion of our experiment at 250°C and 265 atm
(Baross and Deming 1983). Examples of these colonies are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 : Colony-forming units in a new medium, based on the highly thermostable solidifying agent GELRITE. The left tube was inoculated with the original culture of black smoker
bacteria from 21°N, after exposure to 250°C and
265 atm (Baross and Deming, 1983). It was incubated in a temperature gradient of 85°C (top) to
110°C (bottom). The middle tube was inoculated
with 250°C hydrothermal fluid from the Juan de
Fuca Ridge and immersed halfway into a 95°C oil
bath. The right tube is an uninoculated control,
similarly incubated at 95°C.
With the development of this new medium and a modified version of the hydrothermal
system used in the original experiments, we anticipate analyses of ultrastructure, optimal
growth conditions, and nucleic acids (especially 5S rRNA sequences) for black smoker
bacteria in the near future. Information will also be forthcoming from many other
laboratories, now actively engaged in studies of extreme thermophiles from smoker
environments and elsewhere. Data obtained very recently at the Johns Hopkins University demonstrated that pressures of 50-153 atm enhanced the survival and growth of the
well-known thermophilic archaebacterium, Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, at temperatures
above its maximum growth temperature at atmospheric pressure (Hurwitz 1985).
BAROSS J.A., and J.W. DEMING, 1983. Growth of “black smoker” bacteria at temperatures of at least 250°C.
Nature 303: 423-426.
BAROSS J.A., and S.E. HOFFMAN, 1985. Submarine hydrothermal vents and associated gradient environments
as sites for the origin and evolution of life. Origins of Life 15 : 327-345.
BAROSS J.A, M.D LILLEY, and L.I. GORDON, 1982. Is the CH
4
, H
2
and CO venting from submarine hydrothermal systems produced by thermophilic bacteria. Nature 298: 366-368.
330