Superheroes of the microbe world series #5: Give Hellboy the ability to create water and you’ll get this bacteria.

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Wait what? I know, it makes no sense at all but that’s why it’s here in the list man.

Nooooooooooo it’s the last episode of this 5 part mini-series!

Already having withdrawal syndrome because I really love producing this series and enjoyed connecting and communicating with commenters especially my ardent supporter, the knowledge enthusiast @vinamra who had been there since the very first post and gave me beautiful constructive criticism to help this series become better and better with each episode.

Also not forgetting, my brilliant mentor @n4zriofficial who had been there for me since day of my Steemit journey. Thank you very much, someone give this guy a medal (or 50 SBD, I don't know)

Hello fellow Steemians,

As you already know, this is the last episode of the Superheroes of the microbe world series and there’s no better way to conclude this 5 part mini-series than introducing the bacteria with more than one superpower as the last superhero in this series.

That’s right, as if having one superpower isn’t cool enough (Or hot enough for this bacteria) you just had to have more awesome abilities at your disposal to really cement your place in this list.

And that bacteria is none other than bacteria from the genus Aquifex (Which already sounds like a superhero name)

So let’s go to its ability one by one shall we?

The first one in this list is of course Thermal resistence. I’m not talking about your usual standard dose of withstanding relatively high temperature, I’m talking about somewhere around the boiling point kind of temperature! And that’s why, like Hellboy, this bad baby is the most thermal resistant bacteria of them all, casually thriving and carrying out its physiological activities anywhere between 85 degree Celsius to 95 degree Celsius, a temperature so high that most protein would just denature even amongst other thermophiles (Heat lover). Aquifex sp. can go further even beyond 100 degree Celsius and are usually found in waters near volcanoes and hot springs including those in Yellowstone National Park, where they grow in all sorts of cool-looking white and pink mats and streamers.

Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone Pitcure source

The next ability that Aquifex possesses has something to do with the previous one – The ability to use oxygen.

Now you’re probably thinking, “What do you mean using oxygen is an ability, I do it all the time but I don’t feel extra super!”

That’s because you’re not a thermophilic organism. You see, most thermophiles are anaerobic organism which means that they either can’t use oxygen or that oxygen is toxic to them. This is pretty much the way with all other thermophilic bacteria until Aquiefex sp. happened. Beyond the heat-loving façade, Aquifex sp. is also a chemolithoautotrophic organism, which means they can get energy from Inorganic compounds in their environment, something only a handful of organisms are able to do, fuelling their cells with molecules like Hydrogen, Carbon dioxide, mineral salts and yes, Oxygen.

Some of them can use or have to use Oxygen but if being a somewhat aerobic thermophilic organism isn’t cool (Or hot) enough, it can still live even when the oxygen their getting is low. How low? Like 8 parts per million kind of low which is all sort of craziness because that’s ridiculously low even for bacterial standard, making it able to survive both extreme temperature and low oxygen.

Yeah close your mouth, your jaw is dropping.

And last but not least, to make Hellboy cry and wish it was a unicellular organism, Aquifex creates water every time it respire.

Yeah, crazy man, just crazy. Molecule man would go nuts knowing this (Molecule Man is one of the most powerful villain in the Marvel Universe, able to control all the molecules at will and the only reason I’m telling you this is because there’s a high chance you don’t know who he is)

But if you know Latin, it probably won’t come as a surprise to you since ‘Aquifex’ in Latin literally means "water maker" which refers to the fact that the bacteria's method of respiration creates water.

Mind = Blown

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Eventually, it's crazy to think how an organism is able to thrive in such extreme condition and we're seeing more and more of them. From the Geobacter from the previous episode, to this, there's no telling what's the extent of living creature's survivability. In the words of Michael Crichton in Jurassic Park, "Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way."

And that’s the final conclusion to this episode and this mini-series. It has been a great pleasure producing these series of organisms with superpower living among us. As always, if you enjoyed the content and the puns and jokes embedded within, then be sure to leave a vote and comment and resteem. While, you're at it, might as well follow me for more awesome content. Looking forward to produce more though-provoking content in the future to prove just how cool and distinct the Steemstem community is.

Thank you very much and you can conveniently do your own further reading on this episode from the references below and check out the other 4 episodes in this series.

References:

1. Aquifex to the resuce!
2. Details for Aquifex sp.
3. Aquifex Sp.
4. Prokaryotes: The unseen majority

Previous episodes in this series:

1. Superheroes of the microbe world series #1: The Superman of bacteria.
2. Superheroes of the microbe world series #2: The bacteria who puts superglue and Spiderman’s web to shame.
3. Superheroes of the microbe world series #3: The toughest life-form on Earth!
4. Superheroes of the microbe world series #4: The bacteria version of ‘Electro’