Only a few thousand species of bacteria have been identified, out of millions that probably exist. These bacteria probably play a vital role in ecology. The research was sponsored by the French agency in charge of storing nuclear wastes, which wanted to learn how to predict long-term behavior in order to locate stable sites. It was very difficult to understand each other, but after three years, we reached a point where we could talk to each other. Because of the high cost of sampling deep clay under aseptic conditions and the project's success as viewed by the sponsors, the research has been terminated, say Christen.
Preliminary results show thousands of new and sometimes strange species.
Bacterial diversity in a deep-subsurface clay environment. All rights reserved.