Hot Pools Home to Useful Bacteria

Researchers from the University of Waikato and GNS Science will search the country’s picturesque hot springs for the next big breakthroughs in science over two-years in what is called the 1000 Springs Project.

New Zealand’s hot springs are beautiful, but they’re also one of the most extreme ecosystems on the planet. Their water can have a pH of more than 10, close to that of household ammonia, is often salty as the ocean, and can reach temperatures of up to 90 degrees Celsius, making it extremely inhospitable for most life forms.

But tiny bacteria known as extremophiles have been found to not only survive these conditions, but also thrive in them, using unique mechanisms to stay alive. It’s the pigment of these extreme bacteria that give the hot springs their iconic colours.

“There’s a multitude of things you could find from these micro-organisms,” Dr Matthew Stott of GNS Science told the New Zealand Herald.

“You can use micro-organisms to break down cellulose in order to make ethanol for biofuels, or in medicine, you could find micro-organisms that generate anti-microbial agents, which could be used as thermo-stable antibiotics.”

Original article by ScienceAlert staff, ScienceAlert, July 2, 2014.