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Nature 454, 952-953 (21 August 2008) | doi:10.1038/454952a; Published online 20 August 2008
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Biogeochemistry: Who lives in the sea floor?
Ann Pearson1
Abstract
The sediments that blanket the sea floor contain tremendous numbers of microorganisms. This deep marine biosphere, which is probed by deep-sea drilling, is a new frontier for microbiologists and geochemists.
On page 991 of this issue, Lipp et al.1 add to the debate over the nature of life in the sea floor. They report that most cells in deep-sea sediment are members of the domain Archaea and not of the other domain of the prokaryotes, the Bacteria.
- Ann Pearson is in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Email: pearson@eps.harvard.edu
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RESEARCH
Significant contribution of Archaea to extant biomass in marine subsurface sedimentsNature Letters to Editor
Significant contribution of Archaea to extant biomass in marine subsurface sedimentsNature Letters to Editor (21 Aug 2008)