Costa Rica Natural Pools

SCIENTISTS FIND LIFE IN THE NATURAL POOLS OF RINCÓN DE LA VIEJA

A team from the Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center (CIBCM) from the University of Costa Rica discovered a unique species of an organism that was given the name Euglena pailasensis in the natural pools of the Rincón de la Vieja volcano, Guanacaste Costa Rica. It was named such specifically because of the place in which it lives. The Euglena pailasensis developed in the highly acidic mud that reached temperatures between 40 º-98 º Celsius (104 º-208.4 º Fahrenheit) that would cause serious damage to the human skin. This organism belongs to the protozoan kingdom, unicellular beings that create photosynthesis, like plants, to get energy.Their chloroplasts (balls that contain chlorophyll, an ingredient that allows for photosynthesis) disappear when they are cultivated in the dark and re-appear when they are cultivated in the light.At this point, some 30 species of euglena have been identified. The most well-known live in fresh water and have flagellum, which moves like a whip and allows them to move.However, it is highly likely that Euglena pailasensis lost this flagellum and replaced it with a serpentine movement in order to adapt to the thick mud of the Rincón de la Vieja pools of Costa Rica.Besides having never been seen anywhere else on the planet, CIBCM scientists have found others, like bacteria, living in the hot water pits of Rincón de la Vieja.Lorena Uribe, member of the CIBCM environmental biology area and who headed the research on the Euglena pailasensis along with Marielos Mora and Ana Sittenfeld, explained that the discovery of this organism is as important for industry as it is for science.“Many industrial processes are done at high temperatures and organisms such as euglena secrete substances and enzymes exactly at temperatures similar to those that are needed in these productive processes” she stated.With more research, it is believed that they will be used to improve production processes. Kudos to Costa Rica.