MELBOURNE, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Scientists in Australia have found Antarctic microbes can survive by consuming gases from the atmosphere across an extraordinary temperature range, revealing new clues to life's resilience in extreme environments.
The new research shows Antarctic microbes can survive in temperatures ranging from minus 20 to 75 degrees Celsius, a staggering 95 degrees Celsius temperature span, according to a statement from Australia's Monash University on Monday.
"It's a bit like seeing a penguin thrive in a tropical jungle," said Monash University scientist Ry Holland, who co-authored the study published in The ISME Journal.
The study shows that microbes' ability to live from gases in the atmosphere, including hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is likely active year-round across East Antarctica and forecast to increase with climate warming.
This process, known as aerotrophy, allows them to not only survive but thrive during Antarctica's dark, freezing winters, and also makes them suited to a future shaped by rising temperatures, it said.
The findings help explain how life survives in one of Earth's most extreme environments, Holland said.
The team measured microbes' atmospheric gas consumption in the lab and field, and sequenced microbial DNA to identify species, genes and energy sources, finding that aerotrophy is a widespread and foundational survival strategy across Antarctica. ■