Cyanobacteria &
Thermophilic Microbiota

Cyanobacteria

Toxic Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria and Cryptobiotic Crusts

Thermophilic Microorganisms

Geothermal Aquifer in the Alvord Basin

Geothermal Springs in Oregon

Extremophiles (Scientific American)

Hot-vent Microbes

Life at High Temperatures

Thermophiles and the Origins of Life

Evidence for an Early Thermophilic Biosphere

Fossil Evidence for Earliest Life

Microbiology of Ancient and Modern Hydrothermal System

Merging Genomes with Geochemistry in Hydrothermal Ecosystems

Thermophilic Cyanobacteria on Mars !?

Major Lineages of Prokaryotes
 
 
 

Relevant Unlinked Literature:
 

Ecology and Systematics of Thermophilic Cyanobacteria

Castenholz, R. W. 1973. Ecology of blue-green algae in hot springs. In: N. G. Carr and B. A. Whitton (eds.), The Biology of Blue-green Algae. Blackwell Scientific Publications.

Castenholz, R. W. 1981. Isolation and cultivation of thermophilic cyanobacteria. In: M. P. Starr, H. Stolp, H. G. Turper, A. Balows and H. G. Schlegel (eds.), The Prokaryotes: A Handbook on Habitats, Isolation and Identification of Bacteria. Springer Verlag.

Castenholz, R. W. 1996. Endemism and biodiversity of thermophilic cyanobacteria. Nova Hedwigia Beih. 112: 33-47.

Ward, D. M. & R. W. Castenholz 2000. Cyanobacteria in geothermal habitats. In: B. A. Whitton & M. Potts (eds.), The Ecology of Cyanobacteria: Their Diversity in Time and Space.  Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Whitton, B. A. 1992.  Diversity, ecology, and taxonomy of the cyanobacteria. In: N. H. Mann and N. G. Carr (eds.), Photosynthetic Prokaryotes.  Plenum.
 
 

Geothermal Geology of the Alvord and Mickey Basins, Harney Co., Oregon

Hook, R.  1981, The volcanic stratigraphy of the Mickey Hot Springs area, Harney County, Oregon: Corvallis: Oregon: Oregon State University, unpublished M.S. thesis, 66 p.

Minor, S. A., J. J. Rytuba, C. A. Goeldner, and H. J. Tegtmeyer 1987.  Geologic map of the Alvord Hot Springs quandrangle, Harney County, Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-1915, scale 1:24,000.

Rytuba, J. J., D. B. Vander Meulen, T. L. Vercoutere, and S. A. Minor  1982. Reconnaissance geologic map of the Borax Lake Quadrangle, Harney County, Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 82-1126.

Collections and Photomicroscopy:

Cyanobacteria, or "bluegreen algae" are prominent components of the biota in geothermally heated bodies of water.  This site documents collections of cyanobacteria and associated microbiotic crust organisms from hot springs in Oregon.  This page is provided as a teaching resource for SOU Biology 332 and other courses that include cyanobacteria.  Links are provided to related web resources.

Organisms photodocumented here are components from a series of eleven samples, each 15-30 cm² obtained from Mickey Springs, centered on 42° 40' 41"N, 118° 20' 54"W, Harney County, Oregon.  Samples were collected from a variety of temperature, moisture and substrate conditions, into sterile plastic petri dishes, transported in an insulated box to the lab, transferred to glass petri dishes sealed with parafilm, and incubated on a warming tray at 40 C, with 8-10K lux illumination from two flood lamps mounted approximately 20 cm above the samples.

 
Images

The images grouped below by sample number will be periodically updated, with new images added as the collections and enrichment cultures are explored.
 
 

Mickey Springs # 1          Mickey Springs # 2          Mickey Springs # 3

Mickey Springs # 4          Mickey Springs # 5          Mickey Springs # 6

Mickey Springs # 7          Mickey Springs # 8          Mickey Springs # 9

Mickey Springs # 1          Mickey Springs # 11