Arsenic-Resistant Nematodes Found in Mono Lake

Researchers recovered eight species from the salty, alkaline environment—increasing the known biodiversity of animals in the California lake five-fold.

Written byAbby Olena, PhD

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ABOVE: Pei-Yin Shih, Elizabeth Goetz, and Ryoji Shinya on a nematode collecting trip to Mono Lake
JAMES LEE

Mono Lake in California is a salty, alkaline, arsenic-rich body of water known to be home to just two eukaryotes: brine shrimp and alkali flies. In a study published today (September 26) in Current Biology, researchers found eight more species residing in the lake and its sediments—all hardy, tiny nematodes. Culturing one species from the group Auanema in the lab revealed that the animals are capable of surviving 500 times the dose of arsenic that would kill a person.

“Mono Lake is famous for being a limited ecosystem in terms of animals . . . so it’s really cool that they’ve managed to demonstrate that there are a bunch of nematode species living in there, as well as the shrimp and the flies. It expands the whole ecosystem considerably,” says Lucy Stewart, a ...

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Meet the Author

Abby Olena, PhD
As a freelancer for The Scientist, Abby reports on new developments in life science for the website. She has a PhD from Vanderbilt University and got her start in science journalism as the Chicago Tribune’s AAAS Mass Media Fellow in 2013. Following a stint as an intern for The Scientist, Abby was a postdoc in science communication at Duke University, where she developed and taught courses to help scientists share their research. In addition to her work as a science journalist, she leads science writing and communication workshops and co-produces a conversational podcast. She is based in Alabama.
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