Kryptonite ©DC ComicsFLICKR, MARK ANDERSONStudies on 16s ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences have opened scientists’ eyes to the complexity of microbial communities, but some bacteria evade detection. At the US Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute User Meeting held in Walnut Creek, California, last week, researchers announced the genomic identification of a potential new bacterial phylum, Candidatus Kryptonia, based on their study of samples isolated from four hot springs located in North America and Asia. Altogether, the DOE team sequenced 22 Kryptonia genomes.
“It’s always difficult to claim absolutely a new lineage until you’ve done some biochemical tests,” said microbial ecologist Jack Gilbert of Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago, who was not involved with the study, “but, genomics-wise, this thing appears to fit outside of our current understanding.”
Genomic analyses place Kryptonia in the Bacteroidetes superphylum, whose members thrive in the gut and in marine environments. If confirmed, Kryptonia would be the first extreme thermophile found in this group. Kryptonia appears to have acquired this characteristic through horizontal gene transfer from Archaea.
“This work is very exciting in that it seems to contribute to several populations present in high pH neutral thermal systems that aren’t accounted for yet,” geomicrobiologist Bill Inskeep of Montana State University’s ...
