I’m HoTTTT!!!

I guess many of you are aware of extremophiles. However, let me give you a brief description. Extremophiles are super-hot super-small guys that can survive in extreme environmental conditions from hot springs, deep thermal vents, and volcanoes to the frozen waters in the Arctic and Antarctica. These tiny weenie little things can overcome these extreme stressful living conditions and can survive even at high temperatures (thermophiles), high salinity (halophiles), and high pressures (barophiles).

I recently read an article about an extremophile that has been recently added to the list of the newly discovered species Pyrolobus fumarii Strain 121, which is a super-hot thermopile. It seems that this guy loves to live a life in the hell. It is the first ever known living thing that is found to live in the hottest conditions on earth (about 121°C). 

It has been found deep down in a thermal vent in the Pacific Ocean. 

One of the unique features of this organism is that it feeds on iron. Usually, other microbes metabolize food by breaking down the organic matter and transfer electrons to a network of molecules to produce carbon dioxide. Usually, this network of molecules is found in the cell membrane. When electrons flow through these molecules, an electron transport chain (ETC) is thus observed in the cell membrane and inside the cell. But, this guy seems to be a little different from the others. This microbe seems to deliver electrons to the iron molecules that are found outside the cell, that is, the environment surrounding the cell. Usually places such as thermal vents seem be iron- and sulfur-rich. Thus, an ETC occurs outside the cell, rather inside the cell. 

During an ETC, an electron flow is observed, thereby creating electricity. However, the electricity generated inside the cell is not of much use, but we can use these microbes to generate usable electricity from organic matter, since the electron flow is outside the cell.

Also, these microbes can be used to transfer electrons to radioactive waste materials such as uranium. Therefore, when we put these microbes in the water that is radioactive contaminate, they help to drop down the uranium levels in the water, and even in soils of the areas that are radioactive contaminated.