Extremophiles Reveal a New Dimension of the Genome

Distantly related extremophiles share genetic signatures, a product of their adaptation to a specific “harsh” environment.Extremophiles, as their name suggests, are organisms that can live in extreme conditions, many of which are inhospitable for other terrestrial organisms.

These fascinating organisms have been discovered deep within the Earth’s crust, in extremely acidic or basic conditions, under high pressures and in environments with blisteringly hot or freezing cold temperatures.



Extremophiles have intrigued scientists for many years; how do they not only survive, but thrive in such harsh environments? Advances in next-generation sequencing are helping to answer this question, providing insights into their genetic composition.Professor Lila Kari from the Cheriton School of Computer Science has studied genetic signatures since the early 2000s. In a bid to understand whether an organism’s genome might contain information beyond taxonomic and evolutionary insights – i.e., its ancestry and how it is related to other organisms – she turned to extremophiles.

Using machine learning algorithms, Kari and colleagues compared genetic signatures across 700 microbial extremophiles. Their findings, published in Scientific Reports, were so unexpected that the team “couldn’t believe their eyes.Typically, the more similar an organism’s DNA is to another organism, the more closely related those organisms are. But Kari and colleagues found some extremophiles had very similar DNA, despite being very distantly related.This suggests that an environmental “signature” exists within the extremophiles’ genome. Two extremophiles – though distantly related – could share similar genome signatures if they have adapted to survive in the same harsh conditions, such as extreme temperature or pH.

“Our study has revealed, in some sense, a new dimension of the genome: The DNA of extremophiles contains, in addition to ancestry information, information associated with the extreme environment where they live,” said Kari.Technology Networks recently had the pleasure of interviewing Kari, where we learned more about the backstory of this study and the significance of its findings.

#genomics #genetics #dna #biotechnology #science #biology #biotech #bioinformatics #molecularbiology #genes #research #genome #health #precisionmedicine #biotechnologist #microbiology #crispr #cellbiology #scientist #medicine #biochemistry #covid #dnatest #gene #cancer #biologist #healthcare #laboratory #dnagenetics #genetictesting

website Link: https://molecularbiologist.org/

Follow on:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Vitamin D Deficiency Can Raise Autoimmune Disease Risk

Image
  The body can naturally produce vitamin D when skin is exposed to sunlight, but this process declines significantly in winter. There also aren't many food sources of vitamin D. But vitamin D is very important to the body. The  vitamin D receptor  can be found in many different tissues, and while the vitamin's roles in bone health and calcium level maintenance are  well known , less is understood about its other functions, such as how it relates to immunity. Several immune cells have vitamin D receptors and gene activity in those cells can be affected by the vitamin. Low levels of vitamin D have also been associated with a variety of autoimmune disorders including inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis vulgaris, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes. Studies  have also shown  that vitamin D supplements can help lower the risk of autoimmune disease. A new study  reported in  Science Advances  has provided new insights in...
Read more

Uncovering the molecular drivers of liver cancer

Image
  Researchers discover that inflammation and aging contribute to non-viral liver cancer development. Green tea's role in reversing some of the pathway dysregulation that may contribute to the cancer development and other therapies explored. Liver cancer can arise spontaneously from healthy liver tissue. Recently, however, researchers have discovered an increasing correlation between some liver cancers and non-viral chronic liver disease (CLD). One liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is associated with CLD in about 15–25% of cases. While increasing awareness and screening of cancers has improved the ability to detect liver cancer at earlier stages when it is more effectively treated, cancer prevention is always a primary goal of both healthcare providers and biomedical researchers. The increasing prevalence of CLD with HCC suggests that this underlying condition predisposes liver tissue to cancer development. In order to investigate how healthy liver tissue differs from th...
Read more

New Hybrid Cell Discovery Shakes Up Neuroscience

Image
Neuroscientists have unveiled a new hybrid cell, straddling the line between the well-known neurons and glial cells in the brain.Previously, glial cells, especially astrocytes, were believed to merely support neuron functions. However, recent research highlights the ability of these cells to release neurotransmitters and directly influence neural circuits.This groundbreaking discovery challenges traditional beliefs about brain cell functionality and paves the way for novel therapeutic strategies. Key Facts: A new hybrid cell type, located between neurons and astrocytes, has been identified that can release neurotransmitters. Modern molecular biology techniques confirmed that astrocytes possess machinery necessary for the rapid secretion of glutamate. Disruption of these hybrid cells’ functionality impacts memory, has links with epilepsy, and offers therapeutic insights for Parkinson’s disease. Source: University of Lausanne Neuroscience is in great upheaval. The two major families of c...
Read more