Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in eLife 6 (2017): e18990, doi:10.7554/eLife.18990.
Description:
Anaerobic thermophiles inhabit relic environments that resemble the early Earth.
However, the lineage of these modern organisms co-evolved with our planet. Hence, these
organisms carry both ancestral and acquired genes and serve as models to reconstruct early
metabolism. Based on comparative genomic and proteomic analyses, we identified two distinct
groups of genes in Thermovibrio ammonificans: the first codes for enzymes that do not require
oxygen and use substrates of geothermal origin; the second appears to be a more recent
acquisition, and may reflect adaptations to cope with the rise of oxygen on Earth. We propose that
the ancestor of the Aquificae was originally a hydrogen oxidizing, sulfur reducing bacterium that
used a hybrid pathway for CO2 fixation. With the gradual rise of oxygen in the atmosphere, more
efficient terminal electron acceptors became available and this lineage acquired genes that
increased its metabolic flexibility while retaining ancestral metabolic traits.
Description:
National Science Foundation (MCB 04-56676), (OCE 03-27353), (MCB 08-43678), (OCE 09-37371), (OCE 11-24141), (MCB 15-17567), (OCE-1136727); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX15AM18G);
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
