Ancient life frozen in ice has awakened from cryosleep

Ancient life frozen in ice has awakened from cryosleep
Ancient life frozen in ice has awakened from cryosleep
Anonim

Biologists managed to get samples of moss in the permafrost, which had lain in ice captivity for 1,500 years - and yet retained the ability to regenerate and even reproduce.

The Little Ice Age, which covered the Arctic with ice, lasted from about 1550 to 1850. On the Canadian island of Ellesmere, a glacier stretches across the landscape and has absorbed many different debris, including a small piece of moss. From that time on, the moss was literally "mothballed" under a 30-meter layer of ice, until it was finally discovered by the evolutionary biologist Catherine La Farge.

Surprisingly, even after so many years, a piece of moss Aulacomnium turgidum, although it was pretty shabby, but still retained its green color - which means, with a high probability, the ability to photosynthesis. Against the background of global warming and mass extinction of plant and animal species across the planet, it is the Arctic that can become a real natural "cryochamber", from where it will be possible to extract samples for further breeding. But if you think that 150 years in ice is a long time, then biologists have something to surprise you with.

Katherine has been conducting similar experiments since 2009. She, along with her team, has already extracted samples of plants from the ice, many of which have already disappeared from the face of the planet. Previously, it was believed that after several centuries in cryosleep, plants are not capable of reproduction, however, after nutritional therapy in laboratory conditions, more than a third of the samples were saved.

Ice crystals are very hard and sharp, and therefore can crush or cut the cell membrane and organelles inside plant cells. But the moss found a way to protect itself from such unpleasant accidents. As soon as the temperature drops, the moss begins to drastically lose moisture - and with it the risk that ice microcrystals will form inside it. In addition, if the plant is damaged, certain cells within it (akin to mammalian stem cells) can begin to divide and form whatever tissues are needed when conditions become milder.

However, as we said, 150 years is a ridiculous time. Inspired by the success, scientists were able to bring back to life samples of moss that had been lying at a depth of one meter in the Antarctic permafrost for 15 centuries. "This environment is very stable, and therefore it is isolated from almost all the moss aggressive environmental factors, such as solar radiation, rain, annual freeze-thaw cycles, and so on," the researchers explain.

Why is this so important? So far, melting glaciers reveal only a small area, but very soon the dormant plants in them will come out and begin to spread their spores along with water and wind. It is possible that we will still see the transformation of the now lifeless ice landscape into a blooming tundra - and even without human participation.

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