Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week’s contribution is from Michael Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.<\/p>\n
Mushroom Pool is a small hot spring in Yellowstone\u2019s Lower Geyser Basin that looms large in science.\u00a0The spring\u2019s fun(gi) name might have been given in the 1890s due to its appearance or the presence of algae and bacteria.<\/p>\n
Mushroom Pool, Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. Old roads were routed very near this feature as early as 1895, when the pool was noted by the strange \u201cvegetable formation growing on it.\u201d This observation turned out to be prophetical: Mushroom Pool is famous as the location where Thermus aquaticus strain YT-1 was discovered by Dr. Thomas Brock<\/a>. Eventually study of this bacterium led to modern DNA sequencing technology<\/a>. USGS photo by Lauren Harrison, 2018.<\/p>\n Despite being apparently unremarkable compared to other Yellowstone hot springs, Mushroom Pool is the site of an extraordinary scientific discovery that has had a global impact and also shaped how research is done in the world\u2019s first National Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n The story begins in 1964, when Dr. Thomas Brock, a microbiologist from Indiana University, vacationed in Yellowstone National Park and was intrigued by the life that was clearly thriving in Yellowstone\u2019s hot springs.\u00a0 He returned to Yellowstone in 1965 with his wife Louise (also a microbiologist) to gain field experience prior to work on potential bacterial colonization of the new volcanic island of Surtsey, off the south coast of Iceland.\u00a0It was clear, however, that there was much to be learned in Yellowstone itself.<\/p>\n The serious work began in August 1966, when Brock was joined in Yellowstone by colleagues and students, including Hudson Freeze, then an undergraduate at Indiana University.\u00a0They visited numerous thermal features in the Lower Geyser Basin and collected samples of bacteria from springs that had a neutral to alkaline (basic) pH<\/a>.\u00a0 One of those springs was Mushroom Pool.<\/p>\n A month later, back in the laboratory, Freeze managed to isolate bacteria from the Mushroom Pool sample\u2014a bacteria now known as Thermus aquaticus (nicknamed \u201cTaq\u201d) for the warm water in which it lived.\u00a0 They published their findings in the Journal of Bacteriology in 1969<\/a> and cataloged the bacteria in the American Type Culture Collection\u2014a sort of repository for microorganisms.\u00a0 The work served as Freeze\u2019s undergraduate honors thesis and must rank as one of the most spectacular and consequential undergraduate research projects ever!<\/p>\n Bacterium Thermus aquaticus<\/p>\n In 1983, Kary Mullis, a biochemist working for a company in Berkely, California, realized that Taq contained heat-resistant components that were essential for copying small amounts of DNA, thereby allowing DNA analyses to be conducted more easily.\u00a0 The technique he developed, called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), is used today for crime scene investigations, genetic testing, medical diagnoses (like COVID-19)<\/a>, and much more.\u00a0Mullis received the Nobel Prize in 1993<\/a> for his work, and in 2013 Thomas Brock and Hudson Freeze were recognized with a \u201cGolden Goose Award,\u201d highlighting the tremendous societal benefits of their discovery.<\/p>\n Of the more than 10,000 thermal features<\/a> in Yellowstone National Park, why did Brock and Freeze focus on Mushroom Pool?\u00a0 Why not the more charismatic Morning Glory Pool<\/a> or Grand Prismatic Spring<\/a>?<\/p>\n Collecting biological samples from hot springs often requires leaving equipment on site and undisturbed for days to months.\u00a0 Mushroom Pool was off the beaten path and not a visitor destination, but it was close enough to a road to be accessible to researchers.<\/p>\n Although Brock had a research permit, guidance on how to work in delicate areas was lacking.\u00a0Brock became one of the first to advocate for leaving locations as they were found\u2014to ensure research equipment was not obvious and that all signs of the work were removed when the research was done.\u00a0 This important practice is now standard for scientists who work in Yellowstone.<\/p>\n Thomas Brock’s first permit to conduct research in Yellowstone National Park<\/p>\n In the years since the discovery made by Thomas Brock and Hudson Freeze, Mushroom Pool has inspired scientists and non-scientists alike.\u00a0 During a visit to Yellowstone in 2007, Freeze, who earned a Ph.D. in 1976 and is now the Director of the Sanford Children\u2019s Health Research Center at Sanford Burnham Prebys, was eating lunch not far from the hot spring he helped to make famous.\u00a0 An approaching visitor, unaware of who Freeze was, asked him if he knew where the pool with the famous bacteria was located.\u00a0 Freeze gestured in the direction of Mushroom Pool.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s right over there.\u201d\u00a0 The visitor was skeptical. \u201cAre you sure?\u201d\u00a0 Freeze, who is a great fan of Indiana Jones, smiled and said, \u201cPretty sure\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t going to miss the opportunity to use that line.\u00a0 It was an appropriate response\u2014the story of Mushroom Pool is akin to the discovery of a scientific grail.<\/p>\n ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS<\/strong>: Material for this article was drawn from Lee. H. Whittlesey\u2019s book Yellowstone Place Names, Geothermal Biology and Geochemistry in Yellowstone National Park (edited by William Inskeep and Timothy McDermott), A scientist in Yellowstone by Thomas Brock (https:\/\/uwmadison.app.box.com\/s\/h9def9ehidlu7n51s2ls3tfrqber4ij8<\/a>), and a personal interview with Dr. Hudson Freeze, to whom the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory is especially grateful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. 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