Extremophiles communicate through Horizontal Gene transfer
to Survive
In one of the most inhabitable places has arisen a very
interesting discovery in extremophiles living in an Antarctic’s Deep Lake which seperated from the ocean 3,500 years ago. With
this lake being deemed the most unproductive lake in the world because of
temperature it makes you wonder how these species live in an environment with
such little energy available. The extremophiles found in this lake belong to a
group called haloarchaea. Interestingly enough these microbes require high salt
concentrations, but even more interesting is the way they respond to their inhospitable
environment. The way they respond is through extremely high rates of genetic
exchange with other species even species from other genera. The microbes use this
as a form of communication through a genetic code. As this code is passed
through horizontal gene transfer the organism are able to swiftly implement any
changes allowing them to prolong their survival in these harsh conditions.
With
high rates of gene sharing it was assumed that maybe the species would grow
into one homogeneous ecosystem, but instead they have identified four separate genera
to have adapted to living in the lake. Although across the groups they
genetically have differences but have been sharing a lot of DNA. These separate
groups are able to live among each other and not be homogeneous is because each
group has developed its own niche and uses different resources from different
parts of the lake. It’s been theorized that the high rates of gene swapping
might be an adaptation to slow reproductive rates in an effort to maintain
genetic diversity between the groups. More research is needed to be done
because this is the only hyper saline lake ever been tested under these frigid
conditions, but there is a practical reason for studying these microbes. They can
be used to aid in cleaning hazardous waste at places in cold climates or be
used as temperature sensitive industrial processes.
