452: Prokaryotic Partner Powers Protist

This episode: Single-celled eukaryotes can thrive without oxygen
with the help of bacterial endosymbionts that respire nitrate the
way our mitochondria respire oxygen!


 


Thanks to Jon Graf for his contribution!


Download Episode (12.4 MB, 18.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Brenneria salicis


 


News item 1 / News item 2

 


Takeaways




The combination of a bacterium and other microbe into the
first eukaryote was a big advance in evolutionary history;
it made possible the huge variety of different body shapes
and sizes we see today. This is thanks to the bacterial
endosymbiont, the mitochondrion, taking on specialized
metabolic tasks for the cell.


 


We already knew about endosymbionts that help with oxygen
respiration, with photosynthesis (chloroplasts), and with
amino acid synthesis (certain endosymbionts in insects).
But bacteria have other metabolic abilities that are very
useful in certain conditions; do these bacteria ever team
up with other organisms? The answer is yes! In this study,
ciliates were discovered at the bottom of a lake in
oxygen-free waters. These protists have an bacterial
endosymbiont that helps them respire, not oxygen, but
nitrate instead, generating more energy than most anaerobic
ciliates.



 
Journal Paper:
Graf JS, Schorn S, Kitzinger K, Ahmerkamp S, Woehle C, Huettel
B, Schubert CJ, Kuypers MMM, Milucka J. 2021. Anaerobic
endosymbiont generates energy for ciliate host by
denitrification. Nature.



Other interesting stories:



Bacterial cellulose film is very good at separating oil and
water




 


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com. Thanks for listening!


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