Up from the deep: meet the marine bacteria that feed on DNA
- Chinese researchers say they have found a previously unknown species that eats the hard-to-digest material
- The finding adds to a theory that DNA could be an important source of food for marine microorganisms
A team of Chinese marine scientists have found and cultivated a previously unknown bacterial species that, unlike others, feeds on DNA, the building block of life.
In a paper published in the peer-reviewed ISME Journal this month, researchers said understanding of the species could be “crucial for understanding global ocean processes”.
The scientists, led by professor Sun Chaomin at the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao in the eastern province of Shandong, named the species Xianfuyuplasma, after the mythical hybrid Yellow River creature with the head of a fish and body of a pig.
Bacteria feed on a range of material but they tend to focus on matter that is easy to digest, such as sugars, fats and proteins, rather than DNA, which is more difficult to break down.
Nevertheless, marine researchers had long suspected that DNA could be an important source of food for marine microorganisms, especially at the deep sea where food is scarce.