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MICROBIOLOGY

Microbial unknowns at the saline limits for life

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The pools of the geothermal Dallol Dome and surrounding area (in the Danakil Depression of Ethiopia) are an extreme example of complex brines: many lack evidence of life, but others are habitats for archaea and other extremophiles, prompting questions about the biophysical limits for microbial function.

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Fig. 1: Brines that exhibit multiple extremes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

    John E. Hallsworth

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  1. John E. Hallsworth
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Correspondence to John E. Hallsworth.

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Hallsworth, J.E. Microbial unknowns at the saline limits for life. Nat Ecol Evol 3, 1503–1504 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-1021-0

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