Researchers led by Jens Harder have documented evidence of a mobile genetic element attempting to transfer between different microbial species, revealing a potential mechanism for gene movement that had not been previously observed. The study centered on a slowly growing community of bacteria and archaea engaged in methane production, which contained an unusually small predatory bacterium as a dominant organism.
The predatory bacterium, identified as Candidatus Velamenicoccus archaeovorus, appears to feed on microorganisms living within Methanothrix soehngenii, a major methane-producing organism. During their investigation into the predator-prey interaction, researchers discovered that cells within the methane-producing filaments were dead, leading them to hypothesize that the predatory bacterium was responsible for their death.
While examining the genome of the predatory bacterium, Harder identified a self-splicing intron that functions as a jumping gene. Using advanced RNA detection methods developed at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, the team identified this intron RNA in both the living predatory cells and the dead prey cells, effectively capturing the genetic element in the process of transferring between species. Although the attempted transfer concluded unsuccessfully due to the host cell’s death, the observation provided direct evidence of inter-species genetic movement.
The intron RNA’s ability to survive in dead cells proved crucial to the discovery. Unlike typical RNA molecules, which are quickly degraded once exposed to cellular breakdown mechanisms, the intron forms a circular structure with no open ends. This ring-shaped configuration protects it from the enzymes that would normally destroy linear RNA molecules, allowing it to persist long enough to potentially transfer to new hosts. This finding suggests that jumping genes may employ an alternative route for cross-species transfer independent of viruses or plasmids, expanding scientific understanding of how genetic diversity emerges in microbial communities.
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