Yale Bulletin and Calendar

November 7, 2003|Volume 32, Number 10

Researchers sequence and analyze
the DNA of an ancient parasite

An analysis of the smallest microbial genome ever sequenced supports theories that life may have originated in a hot and fiery primeval earth, according to Yale researchers and their collaborators.

Scientists discovered the new microbe, Nanoarchaeum equitans, in a hydrothermal vent of the ocean, north of Iceland. In the vent, water reaches the boiling point and beyond.

In the tree of life, there are three domains: Eukaryota, which includes plants, animal, fungi and protists; Eubacteria, which includes bacteria; and Archaea, which includes hyperthermophiles that inhabit some of the most inhospitable environments on Earth. N. equitans defines a new kingdom, Nanoarchaeota, in the domain of Archaea.

N. equitans provides insights into the simplest set of genes required by an organism for survival, according to the report published in the Oct. 13 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The tiny genome of this ancient microbe lacks genes for most metabolic functions, and lives as a parasite of Ignicoccus, a larger archaeal organism.

"The microbe must receive many essential components from Ignicoccus, since the genetic machinery for synthesis of all structural components of an organism are missing," says Dieter Söll, the Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and professor of chemistry. "There are no genes for lipid, nucleotide, and amino acid biosynthesis."

Söll says the microbial organism attracted his interest because it has about one dozen split genes. The purpose of this study was to show that two separate pieces of a gene can make individual proteins that are only functional when the pieces are acting together.

In addition to Söll, the corresponding authors include Karl Stetter of the University of Regensburg, Germany, and Michiel Noordewier of Diversa Corporation, San Diego, California.

-- By Jacqueline Weaver

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Harold Koh is appointed as next Law School dean

Clinton asserts 'shared responsibilities' among nations . . .

'Women Mentoring Women' program launched

Budget plans for the coming year

Event to explore ethics of media coverage in wartime

Colleges' sustainable dining initiatives are focus of conference

Women astronauts will talk about their 'Place in Space'

Computer scientists to develop ways to protect privacy online

Exhibit looks at Robert Damora's '70 Years of Total Architecture'

Yale Rep show explores collision of politics and culture in America

Her native landscape inspires Irish writer's 'desperate themes'

DeStefano hopes 'game plan' will bring him to Olympics

Study: Recovery rates from childhood leukemia . . .

Memory-enhancing drugs may actually worsen . . .

Dr. Robert Arnstein, counselor to generations of students, dies

World-renowned oncologist Dr. Paul Calabresi passes away

Rare form of obsessive compulsive disorder linked to gene mutation

Older patients may not be prepared to receive diagnosis, study says

Symposium will examine 'American Literary Globalism' . . .

Koerner Center to showcase emeritus faculty member's works

Researchers sequence and analyze the DNA of an ancient parasite

Two books on slavery are winners of the Douglass Prize

United Way Campaign nears halfway mark in meeting its goal

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes