Scientists Discover 2.5 Billion-Year-Old Bacterial Energy Source

In the late 1980s, scientist Bernhard Schink predicted that a microorganism could produce energy from phosphite. Decades later, a new species was discovered in a sewage plant, which proved his theory. This organism, which forms a new genus of bacteria, uses phosphite oxidation for energy, a process that could date back 2.5 billion years, providing insights into early biochemical evolution and potential life in extreme environments (Artist’s concept). Credit: SciTechDaily.com

Biologists from Konstanz have unveiled a unique and ancient phosphorus-based bacterial metabolism. Central to this discovery are four elements: an analytical calculation dating back to the 1980s, a modern sewage treatment facility, the identification of a novel bacterial Related