Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans Archives

Researcher Issaku Kohl recorded this image at a historic mining district in Spain, which scientists now an analog for the surface of Mars. It shows the mixing zone on the Rio Tinto, where green water, rich in the Fe2+ ion of iron, containing very high O₂ content sulfate, is discharging from a mine tailings pile. This water is mixing into the river’s main branch red waters, where most of the iron occurs as Fe3+ and sulfate oxygen is mostly sourced from water. -- University of Utah

Analog Studies, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Mars, Press Release

How A Pyrite-oxidizing Microbe Helps Preserve Atmospheric Oxygen In Sulfate

by Keith CowingOctober 27, 2025October 27, 2025

Because oxygen-bearing sulfate minerals trap and preserve signals from Earth’s atmosphere, scientists closely study how they form. Sulfates are stable over billions of years, so their oxygen isotopes are seen […]

Morphology of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans -- David Holmes via Wikipedia

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Siderite and Vivianite as Energy Sources for the Extreme Acidophilic Bacterium Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans in the Context of Mars Habitability

by Keith CowingJuly 1, 2024July 1, 2024

Past and present habitability of Mars have been intensely studied in the context of the search for signals of life. Despite the harsh conditions observed today on the planet, some […]