CellBioNewsMar 7, 2025

Simultaneous #aerobic and #anaerobic #respiration in a Yellowstone #thermophile challenges scientific norms

#mightymicrobes #extremophiles #chemolithotroph #genomic #metabolism #bacteria #archea #funded_by_NASA #funded_by_us

https://phys.org/news/2025-03-simultaneous-aerobic-anaerobic-respiration-yellowstone.html

Simultaneous aerobic and anaerobic respiration in a Yellowstone thermophile challenges scientific norms

Montana State University has long been a hub for research on the many unique features of nearby Yellowstone National Park, and now a doctoral student in one of the university's microbiology laboratories has published a paper on how some hot-spring-dwelling organisms thrive in their extreme environments.

Phys.org
PotassiumAug 5, 2023
A very colorful hotspring near the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone Nationalpark. The colors result from dispersed silica (blue/green) which refract the sunlight. The warmer colors are small organisms (thermophiles) which live in hot springs and are colorful to absorb the sunlight. From those thermophiles the first enzymes for RNA/DNA analysis have been found. Also this was the cornerstone to our COVID vaccines today.

#landscape #landscapephotography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikond7500 #naturephotos #naturephotography #nature #pictureoftheday #potd #USA #northamerica
#yellowstone #yellowstonenp #wyoming #yellowstonenationalpark #nationalpark #hotspring #grandprismatic #thermophile #thermophilia #thermophilebacteria
Joanna MaselJun 15, 2023
Our preprint describes how #EffectivePopulationSize affects #AminoAcid usage. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.02.01.526552v2. Within highly exchangeable pairs of amino acids, high Ne species are able to prefer #arginine over #lysine, and #valine over #isoleucine. This matches #thermophile preferences, as expected from theories of marginal protein stability at mutation-selection-drift balance. 1/6
@hanonmcshea #NearlyNeutralTheory #MolecularEvolution #EvolgenPaper
Show threadBibiana Prinoth (moved!)Apr 8, 2023

• What kind of life do we expect in hot environments?

We expect LUCAs. Last Universal Common Ancestors (not my little brother). LUCA was probably attracted to heat (thermophile).

• What does a #thermophile look like?

We need something resistant: so we are likely looking for an #archaea!