Published in
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science, 5899(322), p. 275-278, 2008
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- [digital.library.unt.edu] | PDF
- [espace.library.uq.edu.au] | PDF
- [www.researchgate.net] | PDF
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Environmental genomics reveals a single-species ecosystem deep within earth
,
Eric J. Alm,
David E. Culley,
Paramvir S. Dehal,
Todd Z. DeSantis,
Thomas M. Gihring,
Alla Lapidus,
Li-Hung Lin,
Stephen R. Lowry,
Duane P. Moser,
Paul M. Richardson,
Gordon Southam ,
Greg Wanger,
Lisa M. Pratt
and other authors.
Full text: Download
Abstract
DNA from low-biodiversity fracture water collected at 2.8-kilometer depth in a South African gold mine was sequenced and assembled into a single, complete genome. This bacterium, Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator , composes >99.9% of the microorganisms inhabiting the fluid phase of this particular fracture. Its genome indicates a motile, sporulating, sulfate-reducing, chemoautotrophic thermophile that can fix its own nitrogen and carbon by using machinery shared with archaea. Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator is capable of an independent life-style well suited to long-term isolation from the photosphere deep within Earth's crust and offers an example of a natural ecosystem that appears to have its biological component entirely encoded within a single genome.