To find which microbes were making
To find which microbes were making the new island their home, the researchers collected 32 soil samples from various non-vegetated surfaces — ranging from sea level to the 394-foot-tall (120 meters) summit of the island's crater — before extracting and analyzing the DNA found within. Usually, scientists expect new islands to become populated with bacteria found in the ocean or in bird droppings. But the most prevalent bacteria around the volcano's cone were those that chowed down on sulfur and hydrogen sulfide gas; and they may have drifted to the island's surface through underground volcanic networks. Of the top 100 bacteria picked up by the sequencing, the researchers were unable to classify 40% into a known bacterial family. "One of the reasons why we think we see these unique microbes is because of the properties associated with volcanic eruptions: lots of sulfur and hydrogen sulfide gas, which are likely fueling the unique taxa we found," Dragone said in ...