Extremophiles

Methanococcus jannaschii

 This microbe lives near hydrothermal vents 2,600 meters below sea level.  Here the water reaches a near-boiling temperature, and the pressures are enough to crush a standard submarine. It was first isolated in the East Pacific Rise, near the western coast of Mexico.  It is a methanogen (methane producer).  These are important to anaerobic environments because they convert organic compounds into methane, which then rises into the aerobic environment.  In doing so, these organisms provide a pathway for compounds that exist in anaerobic environments to be released into the atmosphere, where it acts as a natural gas resource.