14 DAY TRIAL // Who says a photosynthetic organism needs solar light? The answer is pretty simple: all biology manuals.
But the latest discovery comes to contradict it. Yesterday, a team of Canadian, German and American researchers have discovered the first photosynthetic organism that doesn't require solar light.
The subject of the discovery is the green sulfur bacterium which lives at 2,400 meters below the surface near hydro-thermal vents.
This organism was found in the Pacific Ocean, in an area with hydro-thermal vents called ?9 North". Researchers have located it at the interface between hot water (350 degrees Celsius) which comes through the vents and the surrounding cold water (2 degrees Celsius).
The sunlight penetrates the ocean only for 200 meters and considering the bacteria were found at 2,400 meters, researchers believe that the organism is drawing light from the hydro-thermal vent.
These organisms are the champions of low light photosynthesis" said Robert Blankenship, a professor at Arizona State University.
This discovery points out that the photosynthesis phenomenon can also be found outside our planet. Jupiter's Europa satellite meets all the requirements for low light photosynthesis: ice-covered surface with liquid oceans beneath it whose floors are believed to contain these hydro-thermal vents.