NEVADA: NSF-funded study sheds light on ancient microbial dark matter (feat. UNLV)
Bacteria are literally everywhere — in oceans, in soils, in extreme environments like hot springs and even alongside and inside other organisms, including humans. They're nearly invisible, yet they play a big role in almost every facet of life.
Despite their abundance, surprisingly little is known about many microorganisms that have existed for billions of years.
This includes an entire lineage of nano-sized bacteria dubbed Omnitrophota. These bacteria, first discovered based on short fragments of DNA just 25 years ago, are common in many environments around the world but have been poorly understood. Until now.
An NSF-supported research team has produced the first large-scale analysis of more than 400 newly sequenced and existing Omnitrophota genomes, uncovering new details about their biology and behavior. The team's findings are reported in the journal Nature Microbiology.
"We now have the most comprehensive view to date of the biology of an entire phylum of microorganisms and the surprising role they play in the Earth's ecosystems," said University of Nevada, Las Vegas microbiologist Brian Hedlund, the study's corresponding author. "There is a finite number of major lineages of life on our planet, and it's exciting to learn more about organisms that predate plants and animals and have been essentially hidden under our noses."