Antarctic Bacteria Swap Genes for Survival
Researchers have discovered that Antarctic microbes frequently swap genes to survive in extreme conditions, a process known as horizontal gene transfer. This communal strategy allows them to share tools for energy production, such as the ability to harvest gases from the atmosphere.
Why it matters
This discovery provides new insights into how life adapts to extreme environments and the mechanisms of microbial evolution.
Antarctica is one of the driest, coldest places on Earth. Very little life survives its extremes.
PhD Candidate in Environmental Microbiology, Monash University
Research Fellow in Microbial Ecology, Monash University
In the soils dotted around the frozen ice sheets, however, communities of microbes do survive. And one of the keys to their success is a surprisingly communal strategy.
Unrelated organisms share the tools for survival by transferring genes among themselves, including genes that allow them to make energy from the air itself.
In new research, we studied the genomes of 676 microbe species and discovered that almost all of them (around 98%) showed evidence of swapping genes with other microbes. The study is published in Nature Communications.
Our findings suggest this process, known as horizontal gene transfer, is a key to Antarctic microbe survival.
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