MELBOURNE, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Antarctic soil microbes are frequently acquiring genes from neighboring organisms, including distantly related species, helping them survive in one of the driest and coldest environments on Earth, new research finds.
The study, led by scientists from Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SAEF) at Australia's Monash University, found that the acquisition of genetic material, known as "horizontal gene transfer," is widespread among microbes living in Antarctic soils, according to a university statement released Friday.
Peng Yongyi, an SAEF PhD candidate and lead author of the study published in Nature Communications, said frequent gene transfer may help microbes maintain essential biological processes because harsh conditions limit the energy available for cell division and microbes tend to have smaller genomes.
Antarctica's soil microbes were long dismissed as largely static or inactive, asleep in the harsh conditions, but the research shows that is far from the case, said researchers who analyzed horizontal gene transfer and selection patterns in all microbes living in soils from 16 Antarctic desert sites in the Mackay Glacier region of the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
They found that among soil microbes, energy-producing genes were transferred more often than expected compared with other genetic tools. In more temperate environments, energy genes are among the least frequently transferred.
This tactic has likely evolved because it helps microbes harvest scarce resources from their harsh environment, Peng said, adding that genes for aerotrophy -- consuming atmospheric trace gases for energy, carbon and hydration -- were among the most frequently transferred and strongly selected, reflecting their critical role in Antarctic microbial survival.
The findings could also provide a key insight into how microbes will adapt and diversify in response to climate change, the researchers said. ■