Deep beneath the surface of the Pacific, west of Costa Rica, a split is occurring in the Earth’s crust, creating a steaming zone of hydrothermal vents. In this inhospitable habitat, where water temperatures approach the boiling point, a hairy-looking, four-inch worm makes its home. Even its name, the Pompeii worm, calls to mind images of fiery destruction, yet the worm thrives where no other complex creature on Earth can survive.
How the Pompeii worm accomplishes this feat is a subject of Craig Cary’s research at the College of Marine Studies. His investigation is focusing on another unusual aspect of the worm’s existence—the fact that it plays host to symbiotic bacteria that coat the worm’s outer surfaces and give it its hairy appearance. Cary theorizes that since the bacteria must survive t
he same thermal conditions as their host, they may be supplying the Pompeii worm with enzymes capable of operating over a wide range of temperatures.
Traveling aboard the research submersible Alvin, Cary has visited Pompeii worms in their tubular homes lining the sides of hydrothermal chimneys. Using a specially designed probe dubbed "the Mosquito," he and his colleagues have measured the temperature of the water in and around the worm tubes for extended periods.
"The worm’s gills, sticking out of the tube, are in water averaging 72 degrees Fahrenheit, while its posterior end is parked in water that’s 176 degrees Fahrenheit," Cary says. "No other organism on the planet exists routinely for such a prolonged period of time in such an extreme thermal environment."
While the fact of the worm’s existence in a hot, corrosive, and high-pressured environment is fascinating in itself, it may have even more far-reaching implications. The discovery of natural enzymes capable of withstanding wide-ranging conditions may provide the key to new, exceptionally stable, protein-based catalysts for making drugs, paper, food, and a host of other products.