Desulforudis audaxviator 

 

Chemolithotroph Bacterium. 

    Long walks on the beach aren't really my thing, I'm more of a 'soak in radioactive 60 °C groundwater' kind of guy. I'm not a basement dweller, way below actually, 2.8 km down a gold mine suits me fine. I'm completely self reliant because I can code for all proteins necessary for life, so you might be able to find me on a rocky planet like Mars. 

    Social skills aren't my strong suit, I'm the only organism in my ecosystem. It relies on radioactivity instead of light so its not for most. I have transferred genes from my archaea friends, they have been found at similar depths. I'm motile, Gram-positive, and an obligate anaerobe. I'm not a picky eater, all I need is radioactive material, water, sulfate, ammonia and CO2 so I can reduce sulfate.

(find out more about me here: https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Desulforudis_audaxviator#References)