Doesn't heat kill all bacteria in water or something?

it has to be at a rolling boil

Doesn't heat kill all bacteria in water or something?
Not all of them...


There are some strains of bacteria that actually live in geyser pools at several active volcano caves. That's pretty darned close to the boiling point.
Reply:Different types of bacteria are killed at different temperatures.


For example, a machine called an autoclave is used to clean lab equipment under high temperature and pressure.
Reply:Depends on how hot - boiling will kill bacteria. Just plain okd warm water will promote growth in bacteria.
Reply:what? you mean the thermo kind of bacteria? They live in heat vents and can stand very high temperatures.
Reply:If there is one organism that will always be present on earth it is bacterium. There are bacteria that live inside hydrothermal sulfur vents at the bottom of the ocean where the temperature far exceeds boiling. There are bacteria at the top of everest and on uranium rods in nuclear reacters.
Reply:Most bacterias are killed in boiling water. However, some bacteria survive on higher temperature.
Reply:bacteria have an ability to form a hard casement in adverse conditions, so it depends on the amount of heat,
Reply:A simple answer to your question is no. In terms of temperature, bacteria can be devided into four classes: The pyscrophiles, mesophiles, thermaphiles and hyperthermaphiles. The Pyscrophiles live below 0 dgrees C, mesophiles between about 10 and 40 degrees C.


Thermaphiles live up to around 80 degrees C, and if you put these into an autoclave, and syubject them to high temperature eg 100, then they will be killed.





The highest temperature that a bacterium has been isolated from is a whooping 121 degrees C. The name of the organism has escaped me, but i'll go look for it again. It was isolated from a volcanic vent i believe. Various experts have estimated the highest temperature bacteria can live at at being around 140 degrees, since above this temperature organic compounds such as ATP will no longer be stable enough, and so life as we know it could not exist.





There is some really good information on this website: www-micro.msb.le.ac.uk

street fighting