Actual article:
ARTICLE: Swedish scientists discover new cell-division machinery in acid-dwelling microorganism Date2008-11-07
http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.document&N_RCN=30075
Before late last year, the division mechanisms of the ‘extremophile’, Crenarchaeota were not explicitly identified. However, this changed dramatically after a discovery by Swedish scientists was made into the proteins required for its cell division. The scientists were able to isolate a certain species of Crenarchaeota from Yellowstone National park in the US that lives in high temperatures and acidic environments, allowing them to attain the required information. They found that a gene complex is activated immediately before cell division with protein products that constrict the cell to form two daughter cells that are unlike previously known proteins related to cell division in bacterial or prokaryotic machineries. The proteins (known as Cdv proteins) however, showed similarities to proteinaceous sorting complexes in eukaryotes. It can be deducted from this that there was possibly a shared origin for the development of these machineries.
This discovery not only increases knowledge of the cell biology of these ‘extremophiles’, but also reveals cell division machinery similarities with more complex organisms. This provides insight into the evolutionary history of these ‘extremophiles’ and eukaryotes, the possible origin of life in hot environments and evidence for the possibility of life in extreme environments on other planets.
ARTICLE: Swedish scientists discover new cell-division machinery in acid-dwelling microorganism Date2008-11-07
http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.document&N_RCN=30075
Before late last year, the division mechanisms of the ‘extremophile’, Crenarchaeota were not explicitly identified. However, this changed dramatically after a discovery by Swedish scientists was made into the proteins required for its cell division. The scientists were able to isolate a certain species of Crenarchaeota from Yellowstone National park in the US that lives in high temperatures and acidic environments, allowing them to attain the required information. They found that a gene complex is activated immediately before cell division with protein products that constrict the cell to form two daughter cells that are unlike previously known proteins related to cell division in bacterial or prokaryotic machineries. The proteins (known as Cdv proteins) however, showed similarities to proteinaceous sorting complexes in eukaryotes. It can be deducted from this that there was possibly a shared origin for the development of these machineries.
This discovery not only increases knowledge of the cell biology of these ‘extremophiles’, but also reveals cell division machinery similarities with more complex organisms. This provides insight into the evolutionary history of these ‘extremophiles’ and eukaryotes, the possible origin of life in hot environments and evidence for the possibility of life in extreme environments on other planets.
