Extremophiles- Life on the edge

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Extremophiles- Life on the edge
Objective Define Extremophile, give examples of
conditions where some extremophiles live and
study one extremophile enough to write a cartoon
about its life.
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Extraterrestrial life-Under what conditions can
it exist?
Images from NASA, http//pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/
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If and when we find life in space, what do you
expect well find?
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What is an extremophile?

• Organisms that live where nothing else can

Extremozymes- enzymes that work under extremes
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What happens to us at extremes?

• Temperature
• pH
• Salt concentration

Extreme conditions cause proteins to denature,
which is why fevers can be dangerous.
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ExtremophileExtreme loving
Thermophiles- high temperatures

• Psychrophiles-
• low temperatures

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Chemical Extremes

• Acidophile
• Alkaliphile
• Halophile

Dead Sea
Mono Lake- soda lake
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More Extremophiles

• Endolith- Lives inside rocks or pores of minerals

Anaerobe- Lives without the presence of oxygen
Giardia
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Life at the Extreme!

• 1.  Carlsbad Caverns National Park  Lechuguilla
  Cave2.  Yellowstone National Park  Hot
  Springs3.  Great Salt Lake State Park4.
   Cruise Ship over Hydrothermal Vents5.
   Kamchatka 6.  Indonesia  Kawah Ijen Lake
• 7. Deep sea trenches

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Can life exist without carbon?
Chemolithoautotrophic (rock-eating) bacteria
These bacteria feed on the sulfur, iron, and
manganese minerals
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Can anything live in boiling water?
The bacteria produce colors which depend on the
temperature of the water which favors one
bacterium over another.
heat-loving microbes include photosynthetic
algae, organic matter degraders, and
chemolithoautotrophic (rock-eating) bacteria.
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Our Cells cant be frozen without serious, long
term damage.
Wood frogs can create an antifreeze-like solution
in their blood that lets them literally freeze
solid (no beating heart or brain activity) until
spring thaws then it comes out unharmed.
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Life in the Abyss By Peter Tyson Posted
03.30.99 NOVA
http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/life-in-the-ab
yss.html
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The location Hydrothermal Vents Pitch
darkness poison gas heavy metals extreme
acidity enormous pressure water both frigid
searing
The Organisms Blind shrimp, giant white
crabs Tubeworms Others
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No Sunlight
No sunlight no plants Therefore - all vent
life belongs to the animal kingdom.
All other life ever identified, on land or in the
sea, gets its energy either directly or
indirectly from the sun.
Chemosynthesis Energy from chemicals! Tiny
microbes oxidize the hydrogen sulfide that
diffuses out of the vents, providing nutrients
for animals higher up the food chain.
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Sea anemones and barnacles flourish in complete
darkness, drawing energy from breaking down
highly toxic chemicals found in the smoke
http//www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-208
1787/Hydrothermal-vents-Lost-world-unknown-species
-Antarctic-sea-bed.html
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Pressure is on
Normal Pressure 14.7 pounds per square inch.
The pressure on every part of this octopus's
body is over 3,000 pounds per square inch. At
such pressures, any air pockets, such as lungs,
would be crushed flat as a deflated balloon.
Vent animals have evolved bodies with no such
air spaces.
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Acids and Toxins
In the vent deadly toxicants. hydrogen
sulfide this gas is lethal to most organisms,
including many creatures that live within
wafting distance.
pH of waters coming out of black smokers
2.8 There are "naked" snails around
hydrothermal vents that could not form their
calcium carbonate shells because the water was
too acidic.
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And the Winner is
Tardigrades (Water Bears) can withstand
Temperatures from just above absolute zero to
well above 100oC Pressures greater than any
found in the deepest ocean trenches The vacuum
of outer space Solar radiation, gamma
radiation, ionic radiation at doses hundreds of
times higher than would kill a person. They
can go without food or water for nearly 10 years,
drying out to the point where they are 3 or less
water, only to rehydrate, forage, and reproduce.
(source wikipedia)
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Your Task

• Create a 3 to 5 picture comic strip telling the
  story of your assigned extremophile.
• Requirements
• 3 to 5 pictures
• One sentence captions with each picture.
• Must read like an actual comic strip
  (story-like).
• Description of environment must be included.
• You may use Halftone on your iPad or hand draw.

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Meet the Champions

• 1. Pyrolobus fumarii
• 2. Crypotendoliths
• 3. Alkaliphilic bacteria
• 4. Deinococcus radiodurans
• 5. Bacillus substilis
• 6. Halophilic bacteria
• 7. Foraminifera

Please count off by sevens!