The new gene tool promises to solve the mystery of marine microbes

added to marine natives (left) are shown as green dots (right) under a fluorescent microscope. Photo Source: YOSHIHISA HIRAKAWA/Tsukibo University, Japan
50% of the world's oxygen is produced by marine microorganisms. However, these tiny marine creatures remain largely a mystery to the scientific community. Scientists have found a way to unlock the genomes of some marine life cells using cell and genetic techniques, according to a study published April 6 in Nature-Methodology.
, a CNRS marine biologist at the University of Sorbonne in France who was not involved in the study, said the study "will advance plankton biology." These advances may help understand the early evolution of life and may even help us develop new antibiotics, she said.
marine plankton are an invisible life that appears to dye the sea blue, green and even red. Some plankton are single-celled structures called native organisms that, like plants, use light to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. Not only do native organisms provide the oxygen we need to breathe, they are also food for large plankton, which in turn become food for invertebrates and fish.
large number of unexponsed native organisms have had a huge impact on these ecosystems," said Peter Kroth, an algae biologist at the University of Constance in Germany who was not involved in the study. In
2015, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a charity that supports basic research on microbiology and the environment, provided $8 million in research funding to fill this knowledge gap. In a series of studies of animals, plants, yeasts and bacteria, scientists found important clues as they modified the cell genes of organisms.
, the researchers pooled their expertise and insight to select 39 species for the study. Most of those studied were economically responsible microbes that could have disastrous consequences for fisheries and recreation, such as red tides, and some represented different branches of the family of native organisms.
researchers collected microorganisms, mainly from coastal waters, and then tried to grow each species before testing different nutrients and temperatures to determine which method was most effective.
to explore these genes, scientists had to try to import exoded DNA into it, a very bold attempt. They found that sometimes tiny gold or tungsten particles wrapped in DNA were the most effective way to get DNA through cell membranes. Sometimes the cell membrane is penetrated by electric shock, allowing the cell membrane to leak, in which DNA can be squeezed into the cell. The next step is to make this part of the DNA part of the cell genome, or at least translated into proteins.
the cell genes enter and begin to make proteins. Sometimes cell defenses destroy them, and sometimes enzymes commonly used in genetic engineering don't work at low temperatures, and researchers have to find new enzymes to do the job, Falciatore said.
researchers added genes to a total of 13 species, including a native creature that kills fish with its toxins, and one that also infects mums and amphibians.
work will help shed light on how native life works. By altering their DNA and monitoring the behavior, function, or biochemical changes of native organisms, researchers began to understand the role of these genes. For example, genes that affect the ability of native organisms to resist bacteria may encode proteins to create new antibiotics for humans.
that did the same thing in distant progeny probably represented genes that existed in early ancestors, providing clues to the evolution of progeny. "My lab is definitely going to benefit," Kroth said. For
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