Hot microbes and nitrogen fixers

2007/03/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

Two researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle discover a type of microbe capable of fixing nitrogen at a temperature of 92º C. The microbe inhabits around hydrothermal eruptions of the Pacific Ocean 100 meters deep.

The discovery of live nitrogen binders in these conditions can serve to clarify how nitrogauze evolved, that is, the enzymes that microbe makes able to fix nitrogen. In fact, the existing conditions in this ocean zone may be similar to those in the middle at the time of the emergence of recent life.

There is more than one view on the evolution of nitrogauze. One theory argues that the enzyme was formed only once a long time ago and has since been maintained. Another theory holds that this enzyme appeared later, due to the abundance of ammonia at the time of recent life, and that for microbes it was easier to take the necessary ammonium nitrogen. Discovery advocates the first theory, but nothing can still be assured.