Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Large Insert Environmental Genomic Library Production
Published on: September 23, 2009
Environmental genomics reveals a single-species ecosystem deep within Earth
Dylan Chivian1, Eoin L Brodie, Eric J Alm
1Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. DCChivian@lbl.gov
Abstract:
DNA from low-biodiversity fracture water collected at 2.8-kilometer depth in a South African gold mine was sequenced and assembled into a single, complete genome. This bacterium, Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator, composes >99.9% of the microorganisms inhabiting the fluid phase of this particular fracture. Its genome indicates a motile, sporulating, sulfate-reducing, chemoautotrophic thermophile that can fix its own nitrogen and carbon by using machinery shared with archaea. Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator is capable of an independent life-style well suited to long-term isolation from the photosphere deep within Earth's crust and offers an example of a natural ecosystem that appears to have its biological component entirely encoded within a single genome.
Related Concept Videos
Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
Introduction to Microbial Ecology
Soil Microbial Ecology
Microenvironments
The Soil Ecosystem
Evolution of Microbial Genome

