Bacterial air bridge hypothesis a study that includes scientists at the Russian Academy of Sciences; Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Russia; Pasteur Institute in France; University of Santiago de Chile; and Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Bacteria may travel thousands of miles through the air worldwide instead of hitching rides with people and animals, according to these scientists. Their “air bridge” hypothesis could shed light on how harmful bacteria share antibiotic resistance genes.
Konstantin Severinov senior author and principal investigator at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology and professor of molecular biology and biochemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick had this to say;
“Our research suggests that there must be a planet-wide mechanism that ensures the exchange of bacteria between faraway places. Because the bacteria we study live in very hot water – about 160 degrees Fahrenheit – in remote places, it is not feasible to imagine that animals, birds or humans transport them,” Severinov said. “They must be transported by air and this movement must be very extensive so bacteria in isolated places share common characteristics.”
Bacteria were collected from this hot spring in the El Tatio region in northern Chile. Photo: Yaroslav Ispolatov
“Molecular memories” of bacteria from the researchers encounters, (with the memories stored in bacterial DNA, according to a study in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B), and the study of this phenomenon. The viruses that have a profound influence on microbial populations are Bacteriophages or the viruses of bacteria, and these are the most pervasive form of life on this planet. They not only shape the community structure but also affect the microbial populations and evolution.
The scientists collected heat-loving Thermus thermophilus bacteria which is a Gram negative bacterium this is the bacterial agent that has the built in ability to find new ways to be resistant to antibiotics and can pass along genetic materials. To study the bacteria they collected them from three different sites thousands of miles apart. Collection took place from the hot gravel on Mount Vesuvius and hot springs on Mount Etna in Italy; hot springs in the El Tatio region in northern Chile and southern Chile’s Termas del Flaco region; and hot springs in the Uzon caldera in Kamchatka, Russia.
Small pieces of viral DNA from molecular memories that have been stored in special regions of bacterial DNA, (called CRISPR arrays), are passed on to their offspring, this enables the scientists to trace back the bacterial interaction with viruses.
In the beginning the scientists thought that bacteria of the same species living in hot springs would have very different memories of their encounters with viruses due to the thousands of miles separation. That’s because the bacteria all should have independent histories of viral infections. The scientists also thought that bacteria should be evolving very rapidly and become different.
“What we found, however, is that there were plenty of shared memories – identical pieces of viral DNA stored in the same order in the DNA of bacteria from distant hot springs,” Severinov said. “Our analysis may inform ecological and epidemiological studies of harmful bacteria that globally share antibiotic resistance genes and may also get dispersed by air instead of human travelers.”
The scientists now want to test their air bridge hypothesis to do so they will have to sample air at different altitudes and locations around the world and then by identifying the bacteria there, Severinov said. To do that they would need access to planes, drones or research balloons.
Research Paper; Natural diversity of CRISPR spacers of Thermus: evidence of local spacer acquisition and global spacer exchangeAnna Lopatina, Sofia Medvedeva, Daria Artamonova, Matvey Kolesnik, Vasily Sitnik,Yaroslav Ispolatov and Konstantin SeverinovPublished:25 March 2019https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0092
Article sourced from; https://news.rutgers.edu/bacteria-may-travel-thousands-miles-through-air-globally/20190324#.XJiwqij7TIW
Image of bacteria used as a sample of Thermus thermophilus