Study could shed light on harmful bacteria that share antibiotic
resistance genes
Bacteria were collected from this hot spring
in the El Tatio region in northernChile
“Our research suggests that there must be a planet-wide mechanism that ensures the exchange of bacteria between faraway places,” said senior author Konstantin Severinov, a principal investigator at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology and professor of molecular biology and biochemistry in theSchool
of Arts
“Because the bacteria we study live in very hot water – about 160 degrees Fahrenheit – in remote places, it is not feasible to imagine that animals, birds or humans transport them,” Severinov said. “They must be transported by air and this movement must be very extensive so bacteria in isolated places share common characteristics.”
Severinov and other researchers studied the “molecular memories” of bacteria from their encounters with viruses, with the memories stored in bacterial DNA, according to a study in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
Bacteriophages – viruses of bacteria – are the most abundant and ubiquitous forms of life on the planet, the study notes. The viruses have a profound influence on microbial populations, community structure and evolution.
The scientists collected heat-loving Thermus thermophilus bacteria in hot gravel on Mount Vesuvius andhot springs
on Mount Etna in Italy ; hot springs in the El Tatio region in northern Chile and southern Chile ’s
Termas del Flaco region; and hot springs in the
Uzon caldera in Kamchatka , Russia
Initially, the scientists thought that bacteria of the same species living inhot springs Galapagos Islands .
“What we found, however, is that there were plenty of shared memories – identical pieces of viral DNA stored in the same order in the DNA of bacteria from distanthot springs
The scientists want to test their air bridge hypothesis by sampling air at different altitudes and locations around the world and by identifying the bacteria there, he said. They would need access to planes, drones or research balloons.
The study included scientists at theRussian
Academy of Sciences; Skolkovo
Institute of Science and Technology in Russia ;
Pasteur Institute in France ;
University of Santiago de Chile; and Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel
Rutgers Today -- March 24,
2019 -- Bacteria may travel thousands of miles through the air worldwide
instead of hitching rides with people and animals, according to Rutgers and other scientists. Their “air bridge”
hypothesis could shed light on how harmful bacteria share antibiotic resistance
genes.
in the El Tatio region in northern
“Our research suggests that there must be a planet-wide mechanism that ensures the exchange of bacteria between faraway places,” said senior author Konstantin Severinov, a principal investigator at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology and professor of molecular biology and biochemistry in the
“Because the bacteria we study live in very hot water – about 160 degrees Fahrenheit – in remote places, it is not feasible to imagine that animals, birds or humans transport them,” Severinov said. “They must be transported by air and this movement must be very extensive so bacteria in isolated places share common characteristics.”
Severinov and other researchers studied the “molecular memories” of bacteria from their encounters with viruses, with the memories stored in bacterial DNA, according to a study in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
Bacteriophages – viruses of bacteria – are the most abundant and ubiquitous forms of life on the planet, the study notes. The viruses have a profound influence on microbial populations, community structure and evolution.
The scientists collected heat-loving Thermus thermophilus bacteria in hot gravel on Mount Vesuvius and
In bacterial cells infected by viruses, molecular memories
are stored in special regions of bacterial DNA called CRISPR arrays. Cells that
survive infections pass the memories – small pieces of viral DNA – to their
offspring. The order of these memories allows scientists to follow the history
of bacterial interaction with viruses over time.
Initially, the scientists thought that bacteria of the same species living in
“What we found, however, is that there were plenty of shared memories – identical pieces of viral DNA stored in the same order in the DNA of bacteria from distant
The scientists want to test their air bridge hypothesis by sampling air at different altitudes and locations around the world and by identifying the bacteria there, he said. They would need access to planes, drones or research balloons.
The study included scientists at the
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