Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
09 October 2018 | Story UFS | Photo Eugene Seegers
Prof Johan Venter monitors an experiment during a Chemistry magic
Prof Johan Venter monitors an experiment during a ‘Chemistry magic’ demonstration at the launch of the new laboratory on the South Campus.

“This facility is proof of the belief, dedication, and willingness to create teaching and learning facilities, as well as the environment to secure successful studies for deserving students after their South Campus year, by laying a firm foundation.” These were the words of Francois Marais, Manager: Extended Curriculum Programmes, at the opening of a new Chemistry laboratory on the UFS South Campus. He added: “The culmination of this project is the result of sacrifice, hard work, and outstanding academic leadership.”

The lab came into being as a result of a pressing need for laboratory space to accommodate Chemistry students on the Bloemfontein and South campuses. Elzmarie Oosthuizen, Manager: Teaching and Learning in the faculty, discerned this need, formulated a plan, and submitted it to the Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof Danie Vermeulen. Since limited funds were available and a new building was not financially feasible, Mrs Oosthuizen suggested converting existing space on the South Campus into an appropriately equipped laboratory to relieve the additional strain on existing laboratories on the Bloemfontein Campus.

At the launch of the lab, Prof Vermeulen thanked the management and team effort of the Department of Chemistry for their enthusiasm, optimism, and positive attitude, which made it possible to establish the laboratory in a very short time.

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), said: “This lab is a masterpiece of the South Campus. The University of the Free State is on a mission to improve and enhance our level of excellence in the field of academia. That is what academia is all about   to continually strive to be the best. That is why our vision is to be a research-led, student-centred, and regionally engaged institution.” He further said the value system through which this would be achieved, was development within the context of a social-justice framework.

Prof Walter Purcell, Head of the Department of Chemistry, mentioned that this new lab would bring about a 23% reduction in the number of first-year students who have to perform Chemistry practicals each week, resulting in fewer sessions being presented per week. “This has eliminated the need for evening sessions and the associated travel and safety issues for students who have to commute.”

By the launch date on 28 September 2018, 1 326 practical sessions had already been presented in the new laboratory.

News Archive

Extending new discoveries in the deep subsurface – UFS paper published in Nature Communications
2015-11-30



Scanning electron microscopy of some of the Eukarya recovered from two different mines. (a) Dochmiotrema sp. (Plathyelminthes), (b) A. hemprichi (Annelida), (c) Mylonchulus brachyurus (Nematoda), (d) Amphiascoides (Arthropoda). Scale bar, 50 µm (a,b), 100 µm (c), 20 µm (d).

Following the discovery of the first Eukarya in the deep subsurface (Nature, 2010) by a research group from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical, and Food Biotechnology at the University of the Free State (UFS) and their international collaborators, intense interest has developed in understanding the diversity of more complex organisms living in these extreme environments.

Prof Gaetan Borgonie from Extreme Life Isyensya, together with a group of UFS researchers, took this research further, resulting in a paper on this research released in Nature Communications – impact factor 11.47.  This paper is an extension of the first reports of more complex life at great depths, and their abilities to survive these harsh conditions.

Ten authors from the UFS contributed with the array of expertise needed to define this discovery. The group was supported by staff from the different mining groups, long-term leading collaborators from the USA and Canada, and the idea specialist driver of the paper, Prof Borganie.

“After a sampling campaign that lasted more than two years, we identified that Platyhelminthes, Rotifera, Annelida and Arthropoda are thriving at 1.4 km depths in fissure water up to 12,000-years old in the South African mines of Driefontein and Kopanang,” said Prof Borgonie, who was appointed as associated researcher in the Department of Microbial, Biochemical, and Food Biotechnology.

This paper really opens a “can of worms” so to speak. According to Prof Esta van Heerden from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology at the UFS they extended to define protozoa and fungi. “However, they are present in low numbers,” she said.

Characterisation of the different species reveals that many are opportunistic organisms. In house-adapted video equipment was used to film inside the fissure for the home of the organisms.

This is the first-known study to demonstrate the in situ distribution of biofilms on fissure rock faces using video documentation. Calculations suggest that food, not dissolved oxygen, is the limiting factor for population growth. The discovery of a group of complex multicellular organisms in the underground has important implications for the search for life on other planets in our solar system.

More articles

The strange beasts that live in solid rock deep underground
A microscopic ‘zoo’ is found deep, deep underground

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept