Abstract
DNA from low-biodiversity fracture water collected at 2.8-kilometer depth in a South African gold mine was sequenced and assembled into a single, complete genome. This bacterium, Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator, composes >99.9% of the microorganisms inhabiting the fluid phase of this particular fracture. Its genome indicates a motile, sporulating, sulfate-reducing, chemoautotrophic thermophile that can fix its own nitrogen and carbon by using machinery shared with archaea. Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator is capable of an independent life-style well suited to long-term isolation from the photosphere deep within Earth's crust and offers an example of a natural ecosystem that appears to have its biological component entirely encoded within a single genome.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 275-278 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Science |
Volume | 322 |
Issue number | 5899 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 10 2008 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General