New bacteria from the bowels | Nature
- Select a language for the TTS:
- UK English Female
- UK English Male
- US English Female
- US English Male
- Australian Female
- Australian Male
- Language selected: (auto detect) - EN
Play all audios:
A new evolutionary branch of bacteria has been discovered in human guts and in groundwater. While characterizing microbial communities in human faeces and environmental samples, a team led
by Jillian Banfield at the University of California, Berkeley, and Ruth Ley at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, found DNA sequences that were very distantly related to photosynthetic
cyanobacteria. Further sequencing produced three complete and three partial genomes for the bacteria. The authors assigned the microbes their own phylum — Melainabacteria. The
melainabacteria lack the genes required for photosynthesis and for coping with oxygen. They probably generate energy by fermenting various carbon-containing molecules, and may provide their
human hosts with the vitamins B and K. _eLife_ 2, e01102 (2013) RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE New bacteria from the bowels. _Nature_
502, 145 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/502145e Download citation * Published: 09 October 2013 * Issue Date: 10 October 2013 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/502145e SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone
you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by
the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative