Groundbreaking Bacterial Discovery
Published:25 Jul.2023 Source:Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Science
In a recent work published in Communications Earth & Environment, "Viruses of sulfur oxidizing phototrophs encode genes for pigment, carbon, and sulfur metabolisms," Dr. William Gilhooly III, professor of Earth Sciences at the IUPUI School of Science, and a team of researchers made a trip to northeast Washington to study PSB and GSB within oxygen deficient lakes, where these bacteria mostly reside. What they discovered could rewrite the history of anoxic bacteria and play a key role in understanding what's affecting modern lake ecology.
Traditionally, geologists believed purple bacteria need more sunlight, and struggle to tolerate excess hydrogen sulfide, directing them more toward the surface. Green bacteria is the opposite, needing less sunlight, but can tolerate more hydrogen sulfide, pushing them below purple bacteria.
However, the bacteria in these Washington lakes didn't live according to these rules. Sometimes they were mixed, other times only one bacterium dominated. So, the group tested a theory posed by lead-author Alice Bosco-Santos of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland: What if the bacteria had a viral infection?
Sure enough, they did.