-Successful isolation of ultrasmall bacteria belonging to the CPR, a large phylogenetic group that includes various lineages of uncultivated bacteria-
Joint Press Release by National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Hokkaido University, and Tohoku University.
AIST researchers, in collaboration with JAMSTEC, Hokkaido University and Tohoku University, have succeeded in cultivating an ultrasmall bacterial strain parasitizing archaea and classified the strain PMX.108T as new species and genus of Minisyncoccus archaeiphilus.
For the first time in the world, bacteria that parasitize the methanogenic archaea, which play a central role in anaerobic wastewater treatment systems, have been discovered. The ultrasmall bacterium inhibits the growth of the host methanogenic archaeon Methanospirillum hungatei. This study represents the first successful cultivation of ultrasmall bacteria that parasitize archaea, which evolutionarily diverged approximately 4 billion years ago and exhibit significant biological differences in cell membrane lipids, genetic information, and other biochemical characteristics. The bacterium was observed to have limited host range and to attach only host archaeon-specific sites.
The complete English press release can be read here.
