Microbial Life in a Liquid Asphalt Desert
Abstract
An active microbiota, reaching up to 10 E+7 cells/g, was found to inhabit a naturally occurring asphalt lake characterized by low water activity and elevated temperature. Geochemical and molecular taxonomic approaches revealed novel and deeply branching microbial assemblages mediating anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation, metal respiration and C1 utilization pathways. These results open a window into the origin and adaptive evolution of microbial life within recalcitrant hydrocarbon matrices, and establish the site as a useful analog for the liquid hydrocarbon environments on Saturn's moon Titan.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1004.2047,
title = {Microbial Life in a Liquid Asphalt Desert},
author = {Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Shirin Haque and Marina Resendes de Sousa Antonio and Denzil Ali and Riad Hosein and Young C. Song and Jinshu Yang and Elena Zaikova and Denise M. Beckles and Edward Guinan and Harry J. Lehto and Steven J. Hallam},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1004.2047},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
This paper has been withdrawn due to the requirements of the journal it is to be published in that it cannot be posted anywhere else other than in the journal