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Aislamiento de una bacteria halotolerante de 250 millones de años de edad a partir de un cristal de sal primario

R H Vreeland¹, W D Rosenzweig, D W Powers

¹Department of Biology, West Chester University, Pennsylvania 19383, USA. rvreeland@wcupa.edu

|November 1, 2000

Resumen

Los científicos aislaron una bacteria no reconocida previamente de un cristal de sal de 250 millones de años de edad. Este antiguo microbio, una especie de Bacillus formadora de esporas, se encontró en una inclusión de salmuera, lo que demuestra una notable supervivencia.

Área de la Ciencia:

Microbiología Microbiología.
Geología Geología Geología.
Paleontología Paleontología.

Sus antecedentes:

El aislamiento de bacterias antiguas es un desafío debido a preocupaciones de contaminación.
Estudios anteriores, como el aislamiento de Bacillus sphaericus del ámbar, resaltan la importancia de la integridad de la muestra.
La Formación Salado del Pérmico proporciona un contexto geológico único para la preservación de la vida antigua.

Objetivo del estudio:

Para aislar y caracterizar una bacteria viable de un cristal de sal de 250 millones de años.
Para confirmar la edad y la naturaleza prístina del cristal de sal y sus inclusiones.
Para determinar la ubicación filogenética de la bacteria aislada.

Principales métodos:

Selección rigurosa de muestras de cristales de sal, rechazando cualquier muestra con signos de contaminación en las inclusiones de salmuera.
Esterilización de las superficies de los cristales de sal utilizando álcali y ácido fuertes antes de la extracción de salmuera.
Aislamiento y cultivo de bacterias formadoras de esporas de las salmueras extraídas.
Secuenciación de genes de ADN ribosomal 16S para el análisis filogenético.

Principales resultados:

Aislamiento y cultivo exitoso de una especie de Bacillus formador de esporas no reconocida previamente (tensión 2-9-3).
La secuenciación del ADN ribosomal 16S coloca a la bacteria dentro del linaje de Bacillus marismortui y Virgibacillus pantothenticus.
La evidencia geológica (estructuras cristalinas, características sedimentarias) apoya la falta de recristalización de la sal desde su formación.
Los protocolos de esterilización redujeron la probabilidad de contaminación a menos de 1 en 10^9.

Conclusiones:

Una antigua bacteria viable fue aislada con éxito de un cristal de sal de 250 millones de años.
La bacteria aislada representa una nueva especie dentro del linaje de Bacillus.
El estudio proporciona pruebas sólidas de la preservación de microorganismos viables en antiguos depósitos de halita.

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