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Strain 121

 

 
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Strain 121
 
 
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Strain 121 is a single-cell
Cell (biology)

The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known Life organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building bricks of life....
ed microbe, of the domain
Domain (biology)

In Biology taxonomy, a domain is the highest taxonomic rank of organisms, higher than a Kingdom . According to the three-domain system of Carl Woese, introduced in 1990, the Tree of life consists of three domains: Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryota....
 Archaea
Archaea

The Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon . Archaea, like bacteria, are prokaryotic....
. First discovered off Puget Sound
Puget Sound

Puget Sound is an inland marine complex of waterways from the Pacific Ocean, connected to the rest of the Pacific by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the Pacific Northwest of the United States....
 in a hydrothermal vent
Hydrothermal vent

A hydrothermal vent is a fissure vent in a planet's surface from which Geothermal heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcano active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspot ....
, it is a hyperthermophile
Hyperthermophile

A hyperthermophile is an organism that thrives in extremely hot environments? from 60 degrees C upwards. An optimal temperature for the existence of Hyperthermophiles are above 80?C ....
, able to survive and reproduce at (hence its name). It is the only known form of life
Life

Life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit certain biological processes such as chemical reactions or other events that results in a transformation....
 that can tolerate such incredibly high temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
s. is proven to be only bacteriostatic
Bacteriostatic agent

Bacteriostatic antibiotics limit the growth of bacterium by interfering with bacterial protein production, DNA replication, or other aspects of bacterial cellular metabolism....
 for Strain 121, meaning that although growth is halted, the bacterium remains viable, and can resume reproducing once it has been transferred to a cooler medium.

The ability to grow at 121 degrees Celsius is significant because medical equipment is exposed to this temperature for sterilization in an autoclave
Autoclave

An autoclave is a pressure vessel designed to heat aqueous solutions above their boiling point at normal atmospheric pressure to achieve sterilization ....
.






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Strain 121 is a single-cell
Cell (biology)

The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known Life organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building bricks of life....
ed microbe, of the domain
Domain (biology)

In Biology taxonomy, a domain is the highest taxonomic rank of organisms, higher than a Kingdom . According to the three-domain system of Carl Woese, introduced in 1990, the Tree of life consists of three domains: Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryota....
 Archaea
Archaea

The Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon . Archaea, like bacteria, are prokaryotic....
. First discovered off Puget Sound
Puget Sound

Puget Sound is an inland marine complex of waterways from the Pacific Ocean, connected to the rest of the Pacific by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the Pacific Northwest of the United States....
 in a hydrothermal vent
Hydrothermal vent

A hydrothermal vent is a fissure vent in a planet's surface from which Geothermal heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcano active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspot ....
, it is a hyperthermophile
Hyperthermophile

A hyperthermophile is an organism that thrives in extremely hot environments? from 60 degrees C upwards. An optimal temperature for the existence of Hyperthermophiles are above 80?C ....
, able to survive and reproduce at (hence its name). It is the only known form of life
Life

Life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit certain biological processes such as chemical reactions or other events that results in a transformation....
 that can tolerate such incredibly high temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
s. is proven to be only bacteriostatic
Bacteriostatic agent

Bacteriostatic antibiotics limit the growth of bacterium by interfering with bacterial protein production, DNA replication, or other aspects of bacterial cellular metabolism....
 for Strain 121, meaning that although growth is halted, the bacterium remains viable, and can resume reproducing once it has been transferred to a cooler medium.

The ability to grow at 121 degrees Celsius is significant because medical equipment is exposed to this temperature for sterilization in an autoclave
Autoclave

An autoclave is a pressure vessel designed to heat aqueous solutions above their boiling point at normal atmospheric pressure to achieve sterilization ....
. Prior to the 2003 discovery of Strain 121, a fifteen-minute exposure to autoclave temperatures
Thermal death time

Thermal death time is a concept used to determine how long it takes to kill a specific bacteria at a specific temperature. It was developed for food canning and has found applications in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals....
 was believed to kill all living organisms.

Strain 121 metabolizes
Metabolism

Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms in order to maintain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments....
 by reducing
Redox

Redox describes all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number changed.This can be either a simple redox process such as the oxidation of carbon to yield carbon dioxide or the reduction of carbon by hydrogen to yield methane , or it can be a complex process such as the oxidation of sugar in the human body through a ser...
 iron oxide
Iron oxide

Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Altogether, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides....
.

External links

  • "Microbe from Depths Takes Life to Hottest Known Limit"