On 3/20/99 Peter Passar wrote:
>
> The abstract can be found here:
> <http://uq.oz.au/nanoworld/bibliog.html>http://uq.oz.au/nanoworld/bibliog
> .html
That info is the following. I hope to look up this article in the next week. It does look like big news.
Author(s): Uwins PJR; Webb RI; Taylor AP
Title: Novel nano-organisms from Australian sandstones
Source: AMERICAN MINERALOGIST 1998, Vol 83, Iss 11-12, pp 1541-1550
Document Type: Article
Addresses:
Uwins PJR, Univ Queensland, Ctr Microscopy & Microanal, St Lucia, Qld
4072, Australia.
Univ Queensland, Ctr Microscopy & Microanal, St Lucia, Qld 4072,
Australia.
Univ Queensland, Dept Microbiol, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia.
KeywordsPlus: NANNOBACTERIA; BACTERIA; DIAGENESIS; SEM
Abstract:
We report the detection of living colonies of nano-organisms (nanobes) on
Triassic and Jurassic sandstones and other substrates. Nanobes have
cellular structures that are strikingly similar in morphology to
Actinomycetes and fungi (spores, filaments, and fruiting bodies) with the
exception that they are up to 10 times smaller in diameter (20 nm to 1.0 mu
m). Nanobes are noncrystalline structures that are composed of C, O, and N.
Ultra thin sections of nanobes show the existence of an outer layer or membrane that may represent a cell wall. This outer layer surrounds an electron dense region interpreted to be the cytoplasm and a less electron dense central region that may represent a nuclear area. Nanobes show a positive reaction to three DNA stains, [4',6-diamidino-2 phenylindole (DAPI), Acridine Orange, and Feulgen], which strongly suggests that nanobes
contain DNA. Nanobes are communicable and grow in aerobic conditions at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperatures. While morphologically distinct, nanobes are in the same size range as the controversial fossil nannobacteria described by others in various rock types and in the Martian meteorite ALH84001.
Source item page count: 10
Publication Date: NOV-DEC
Part number: 2
IDS No.: 145YE
29-char source abbrev: AMER MINERAL
Robin Hanson
hanson@econ.berkeley.edu http://hanson.berkeley.edu/ RWJF Health Policy Scholar FAX: 510-643-8614140 Warren Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-7360 510-643-1884 after 8/99: Assist. Prof. Economics, George Mason Univ.