Chlamydia Under the Sea
When people hear the word chlamydia, they usually think about sexually transmitted infections.
And it's true that the specific bacteria that causes chlamydia typically depend on interactions with other organisms to survive.
So when a team of researchers discovered several new chlamydia-related species deep below the Arctic Ocean, in a place with no oxygen and without an apparent host organism, they were surprised.
They made the discovery by collecting samples during a visit to Loki's Castle, a field of hydrothermal vents in the Arctic Ocean between Greenland, Iceland and Norway.
What makes this discovery particularly interesting, scientists said, is the environment in which the bacteria were found.
At a level so deep beneath the ocean's surface, there's almost no oxygen and extremely high pressure.
But researchers said they found that the new species of bacteria were "exceptionally abundant" in this part of the ocean -- in some cases, they were even the dominant bacteria.
That could suggest that chlamydia and related bacteria play a much bigger role in marine ecology than previously known, researchers said.
Not being of a very scientific mind, I have no clue how I should respond to this discovery.
After all, the word "chlamydia" definitely does not bring to mind happy-happy joy-joy thoughts.
I guess the walruses should be concerned though?
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt
