See also stories tagged with Archaea
Which microbes thrive below us in darkness—in gold mines, in aquifers, in deep boreholes in the seafloor—and how do they compare to the microbiomes that envelop the Earth's surfaces, on land and sea?
Microorganisms have long used hydrogen as an energy source. To do this, they rely on hydrogenases that contain metals in their catalytic center. In order to use these biocatalysts for hydrogen conversion, researchers are ...
To boost crops more efficiently in the future, the evolutionary past may hold key insights. The way that plants process nutrients has a rich back story—they rely on enzymes that have been evolving for billions of years. However, ...
One of the biggest scientific mysteries is where life on Earth started.
In a paper published in Science Advances, the Pilhofer Lab (IMBB) together with the Albers Lab from the University of Freiburg describe the structure and function of contractile injection systems from haloarchaea and show ...
Billions of years ago, Earth was home to extreme environments, including intense UV radiation, frequent volcanic eruptions, and very high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Yet, under these conditions, biofilms ...
Ecologist Christina Biasi is exploring the conditions under which tiny organisms contribute to permafrost soils emitting nitrous oxide. Her research could be essential for the development of future climate scenarios.
Scientists from Bremen, Germany, have characterized novel enzymes from deep-sea microbes with a key function in the ethane degradation process, revealing surprises in the metabolism of these organisms.
Microbes in the environment, not fossil fuels, have been driving the recent surge in methane emissions globally, according to a new, detailed analysis published Oct 28 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ...
Billions of years ago, long before anything resembling life as we know it existed, meteorites frequently pummeled the planet. One such space rock crashed down about 3.26 billion years ago, and even today, it's revealing secrets ...
