John Baross

Last updated
John A. Baross
BornAugust 27, 1940
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater University of Washington, San Francisco State University
Spouse Jody Deming
AwardsFellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, 2021 NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal
Scientific career
Doctoral advisor John Liston
Doctoral students Julie Huber, Matthew O. Schrenk

John A. Baross (born August 27, 1940) is an American marine microbiologist and professor of oceanography and astrobiology at the University of Washington who has made significant discoveries in the field of the microbial ecology of hydrothermal vents and the physiology of thermophilic bacteria and archaea. [1]

Contents

Education and academic career

Baross earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Microbiology and Chemistry from San Francisco State University in 1965. He earned an MS and Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Washington in 1973. At Oregon State University, he was a postdoctoral researcher (1973-1977), an assistant professor (1977-1983), and an associate professor (1983-1985). He moved to the University of Washington in 1985 and has been a full professor there since 1995. He was one of the founding members of the University of Washington Astrobiology program. [2]

Discoveries on volcanic microbial habitats

Baross was one of the first to show that thermophilic microbes grow in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, work that involved incubating samples on the research vessel's engine block. [3] [4] [5] His research group has studied microorganisms at Axial Seamount, [6] North Gorda Ridge, [7] and the CoAxial Segment in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, [8] and Lost City Hydrothermal Field. [9]

Baross was among the first microbiologists to sample Mt. St. Helens after it erupted in 1980; [10] this research revealed the succession of anaerobic microorganisms in volcanic lakes after the eruption and the importance of the nitrogen cycle in the restoration of the lakes to their former states. [11] [12]

Astrobiology

Baross' research focuses on extreme environments, particularly volcanic environments, and implications for the origin of life. [1] [13] He was among the first to propose hydrothermal vents as a site for the origin of life. [14] [15] [16] He has coined the term ‘ribofilm’ – a proto-biofilm that may have acted as the first living organism. [17] Baross advocates the idea that key metabolic pathways, in particular those involving metalloenzymes, are rooted in geochemical reactions on mineral surfaces. He is therefore a major proponent for the exploration of icy moons like Enceladus which was discovered to be geochemically active and may favor the production of essential biomolecules. [18] His recent contributions stress the importance of an environmentally diverse planetary surface with active hydrological and geological cycles as an ideal setting for prebiotic reaction networks. [19]

Baross chaired two National Academy of Sciences task groups on origins of life topics: the Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life (2000-2004) and the Group on the Limits of Organic Life in the Universe (2004-2007). These groups explored the possibility of a "weird life" based on alternative substrates. [20] He has served on six national and international planetary protection committees. He is the co-author of the textbook "Planets and Life: The Emerging Science of Astrobiology." [21]

Service and honors

Baross is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, [22] chair of the Steering Committee of the International Census of Marine Microbes, [23] and involved in the collection of the hydrothermal vent sulfide chimneys on display at the American Museum of Natural History. [24] He was the 2021 recipient of the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal and was the featured scientist for December 2021 in the 2021 NASA Science Calendar. [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extremophile</span> Organisms capable of living in extreme environments

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrothermal vent</span> Fissure in a planets surface from which heated water emits

Hydrothermal vents are fissures on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspots. The dispersal of hydrothermal fluids throughout the global ocean at active vent sites creates hydrothermal plumes. Hydrothermal deposits are rocks and mineral ore deposits formed by the action of hydrothermal vents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Stetter</span> German microbiologist

Karl Otto Stetter is a German microbiologist and authority on astrobiology. Stetter is an expert on microbial life at high temperatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geobiology</span> Study of interactions between Earth and the biosphere

Geobiology is a field of scientific research that explores the interactions between the physical Earth and the biosphere. It is a relatively young field, and its borders are fluid. There is considerable overlap with the fields of ecology, evolutionary biology, microbiology, paleontology, and particularly soil science and biogeochemistry. Geobiology applies the principles and methods of biology, geology, and soil science to the study of the ancient history of the co-evolution of life and Earth as well as the role of life in the modern world. Geobiologic studies tend to be focused on microorganisms, and on the role that life plays in altering the chemical and physical environment of the pedosphere, which exists at the intersection of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and/or cryosphere. It differs from biogeochemistry in that the focus is on processes and organisms over space and time rather than on global chemical cycles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrogen cycle</span> Hydrogen exchange between the living and non-living world

The hydrogen cycle consists of hydrogen exchanges between biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) sources and sinks of hydrogen-containing compounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abiogenesis</span> Life arising from non-living matter

Abiogenesis is the natural process by which life arises from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to living entities on Earth was not a single event, but a process of increasing complexity involving the formation of a habitable planet, the prebiotic synthesis of organic molecules, molecular self-replication, self-assembly, autocatalysis, and the emergence of cell membranes. The transition from non-life to life has never been observed experimentally, but many proposals have been made for different stages of the process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents</span> Group of Pacific Ocean hydrothermal vents

The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents are a group of hydrothermal vents in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean, located 260 kilometres (160 mi) southwest of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The vent field lies 2,250 metres (7,380 ft) below sea level on the northern Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. In 1982, dredged sulfide samples were recovered from the area covered in small tube worms and prompted a return to the vent field in August 1984, where the active vent field was confirmed by HOV Alvin on leg 10 of cruise AII-112.

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Rachel Haymon is a marine geologist known for her work linking geological and biological processes occurring at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. In 2005 she was elected a fellow of the Geological Society of America.

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References

  1. 1 2 Sullivan, Florence (2017-03-07). "Celebrating Hydrothermal Vents!". Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Laboratory. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  2. ↑ "Prof. John Baross Featured in New NASA Calendar! – uwastrobiology" . Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  3. ↑ Baross, John A.; Lilley, Marvin D.; Gordon, Louis I. (1982). "Is the CH4, H2 and CO venting from submarine hydrothermal systems produced by thermophilic bacteria?". Nature. 298 (5872): 366–368. Bibcode:1982Natur.298..366B. doi:10.1038/298366a0. ISSN   1476-4687. S2CID   128415368.
  4. ↑ Baross, John A.; Deming, Jody W. (1983). "Growth of 'black smoker' bacteria at temperatures of at least 250 °C". Nature. 303 (5916): 423–426. Bibcode:1983Natur.303..423B. doi:10.1038/303423a0. ISSN   1476-4687. S2CID   7584772.
  5. ↑ Cone, Joseph (1991). Fire Under the Sea: The Discovery of the Most Extraordinary Environment on Earth--volcanic Hot Springs on the Ocean Floor. Morrow. pp. 196–197. ISBN   0688098347.
  6. ↑ Opatkiewicz, Andrew D.; Butterfield, David A.; Baross, John A. (2009-11-05). "Individual hydrothermal vents at Axial Seamount harbor distinct subseafloor microbial communities". FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 70 (3): 413–424. Bibcode:2009FEMME..70..413O. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2009.00747.x . ISSN   0168-6496. PMID   19796141.
  7. ↑ Summit, Melanie; Baross, John A. (1998-12-01). "Thermophilic subseafloor microorganisms from the 1996 North Gorda Ridge eruption". Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. 45 (12): 2751–2766. Bibcode:1998DSRII..45.2751S. doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(98)00092-7. ISSN   0967-0645.
  8. ↑ Holden, James F.; Takai, Ken; Summit, Melanie; Bolton, Sheryl; Zyskowski, Jamie; Baross, John A. (2001-06-01). "Diversity among three novel groups of hyperthermophilic deep-sea Thermococcus species from three sites in the northeastern Pacific Ocean". FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 36 (1): 51–60. Bibcode:2001FEMME..36...51H. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2001.tb00825.x . ISSN   0168-6496. PMID   11377773.
  9. ↑ Kelley, D. S. (2005-03-04). "A Serpentinite-Hosted Ecosystem: The Lost City Hydrothermal Field". Science. 307 (5714): 1428–1434. Bibcode:2005Sci...307.1428K. doi:10.1126/science.1102556. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   15746419. S2CID   42382974.
  10. ↑ Raymer, Steve; Findley, Rowe (1981). "Mount St. Helens Aftermath: The Mountain That Was--and Will Be". National Geographic. Vol. 160, no. 6.
  11. ↑ Dahm, Clifford N.; Baross, John A.; Ward, Amelia K.; Lilley, Marvin D.; Sedell, James R. (1983). "Initial Effects of the Mount St. Helens Eruption on Nitrogen Cycle and Related Chemical Processes in Ryan Lake". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 45 (5): 1633–1645. Bibcode:1983ApEnM..45.1633D. doi:10.1128/AEM.45.5.1633-1645.1983. ISSN   0099-2240. PMC   242510 . PMID   16346298.
  12. ↑ Baross, John A.; Dahm, Clifford N.; Ward, Amelia K.; Lilley, Marvin D.; Sedell, James R. (1982). "Initial microbiological response in lakes to the Mt St Helens eruption". Nature. 296 (5852): 49–52. Bibcode:1982Natur.296...49B. doi:10.1038/296049a0. ISSN   1476-4687. S2CID   4334003.
  13. ↑ Baross, John A. (2007). "The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems". The National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/11919. ISBN   978-0-309-10484-5.
  14. ↑ Corliss, J. B.; Baross, Ja; Hoffman, Se (1981-01-01). "An Hypothesis Concerning the Relationships Between Submarine Hot Springs and the Origin of Life on Earth". Oceanologica Acta. ISSN   0399-1784.
  15. ↑ Baross, John A.; Hoffman, Sarah E. (1985). "Submarine hydrothermal vents and associated gradient environments as sites for the origin and evolution of life". Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere. 15 (4): 327–345. Bibcode:1985OrLi...15..327B. doi:10.1007/BF01808177. ISSN   1573-0875. S2CID   4613918.
  16. ↑ Helmreich, Stefan (2009). Alien Ocean: Anthropological Voyages in Microbial Seas. University of California Press. pp. 79–80. ISBN   9780520942608.
  17. ↑ Baross, John A.; Martin, William F. (2015). "The Ribofilm as a Concept for Life's Origins". Cell. 162 (1): 13–15. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.06.038 . ISSN   0092-8674. PMID   26140586. S2CID   4229280.
  18. ↑ Glein, Christopher R.; Baross, John A.; Waite, J. Hunter (2015). "The pH of Enceladus' ocean". Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 162: 202–219. arXiv: 1502.01946 . Bibcode:2015GeCoA.162..202G. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2015.04.017. ISSN   0016-7037. S2CID   119262254.
  19. ↑ Baross, J.A. (2020), "The Environmental Roots of the Origin of Life", Planetary Astrobiology, Bibcode:2020plas.book...71B
  20. ↑ Zimmer, Carl (2007-07-06). "Expanded Search for Extraterrestrial Life Urged". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  21. ↑ Planets and life : the emerging science of astrobiology. Sullivan, Woodruff Turner., Baross, John A. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2007. ISBN   978-0-521-82421-7. OCLC   144222457.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. ↑ "John Baross". College of the Environment. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  23. ↑ "Ocean census uncovers 'new world' of marine microbe life". phys.org. April 10, 2010. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  24. ↑ Delaney, John R.; Kelley, Deborah S.; Mathez, Edmond A.; Yoerger, Dana R.; Baross, John; Schrenk, Matt O.; Tivey, Margaret K.; Kaye, Jonathan; Robigou, Veronique (2001). ""Edifice Rex" Sulfide Recovery Project: Analysis of submarine hydrothermal, microbial habitat". Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union. 82 (6): 67–73. Bibcode:2001EOSTr..82...67D. doi: 10.1029/01EO00041 . ISSN   2324-9250.
  25. ↑ "Prof. John Baross Featured in New NASA Calendar! – uwastrobiology" . Retrieved 2022-02-07.
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