No superpowers, yet something is thriving in Fukushima's radioactive water. How?

First, the mutant wolves of Chernobyl, then black mold and now bacteria - the common factor between these three is that they are all thriving in extremely radioactive environments. Scientists were stunned to see that grey wolves in the radioactive environment had undergone genetic adaptations that helped them not only survive but thrive. Then they found black mould growing on the walls. A discovery at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan has now shocked experts. Microbes have been found crawling in an environment that should not technically support life, Popular Mechanics reported. After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the plant had to shut down because of meltdowns. At the time, water seeped into radioactive waste and remained within the reactor buildings. A huge colony of microbes soon took over this region when nothing should have thrived. One would assume that these microbes probably have genetic resistance like the grey wolves of Chernobyl, which helped them live in such a hostile environment.

No genetic variations, no special powers, but microbes thrived in radioactive water

Shockingly, that is not the case. Biologists Tomoro Warashina and Akio Kanai from Keio University in Tokyo analysed the microbe samples taken from the highly radioactive water below the reactor building. They expected to find radiation-resistant microbial species, but surprisingly, found no radiation-resistant microbial species, and no signs of special genetic resistance to the harmful effects of radiation. Yet, they were thriving in the sludge. The microbiome they analysed had been exposed to persistent radiation. After checking the water for genetic markers of different microbes, Warashina and Kanai discovered bacteria from the Limnobacter and Brevirhabdus genera. The scientists also found a smaller amount of iron oxidisers from the Hoeflea and Sphinopyxis genera.

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What protected microbes against nuclear radiation?

None of them had any resistance to radiation, but they were thriving in a toxic environment that would not have been suitable for any other forms of life. How were they doing it? The researchers reason that it could be because of the biofilms on the surfaces of metals. The mixture of emergency cooling water and seawater inside the torus room likely led to the formation of the biofilms. They theorised that the slime covering the bacterial masses could have offered them extra protection from radiation. “The proportions of bacterial genera known to be radiation resistant were extremely low, suggesting that the impact of radioactivity on selection within the torus room water was minimal,” they wrote.