The microbe & # 39; Ravenous, Hairy Ogre & # 39; can represent a new branch on the tree of life

Who needs extraterrestrials when there are still bizarre life forms to discover in Canada?

Scientists recently detected two previously unknown species of microbes in a sample of Canadian soil. The specimens were so unusual that they had to restructure the entire tree of life in order to leave them a place.

Microbes, also known as protists, belong to a group called the Hemimastigotes, which takes its name, and the very first genetic analysis of these particular microorganisms revealed that they were even more unknown than those that we suspect. [Magnificent Microphotography: 50 Tiny Wonders]

Hemimastigotes, first observed in the 1800s, were previously classified as a phylum within a much larger group known as the super kingdom, although it is not clear exactly where what they belonged to

But new DNA evidence has shown that they are radically different from all other life forms of this super kingdom. In fact, hemimastigotes may represent a whole new super-kingdom, demanding a whole new branch on the tree of life, scientists said in a new study.

Named for a monster

Like the other hemimastigotes, the new species has an oblong body surrounded by rows of filiform flagella; with a scanning electron microscope, 3D magnification, the creatures look a bit like hairy pumpkin seeds.

"They tend to walk a bit awkwardly – superficially, they look like ciliates (another big group of" hairy "cells) but swim in a less coordinated way," co-wrote Yana Eglit, a PhD candidate in biology. Dalhousie University. University in Canada, said Live Science in an email.

Eglit collected strange organisms while she was walking on a trail in Nova Scotia; Whenever she and her colleagues are outside, they are almost always looking for undiscovered microbes in various habitats – "from beach sand to lakes to soils," he said. Eglit at Live Science.

"Of course, if we see a puddle of water or an unusual salt lake, we'll be able to taste it too, we're opportunistic that way," Eglit said.

Nova Scotia being a Mi'kmaq First Nation territory, scientists have given one of the new microbes a name inspired by a mid-kmaq folklore creature. The Mi'kmq describe "Kukwes" as "a voracious and hairy ogre", and the new microbe, now known as Hemimastix kukwesjijk is a voracious predator who has reminded scientists of the shaggy ogre, according to the study.

Using a technique known as the unicellular transcriptomic, scientists focused on the individual cells of microbes. They observed the activity of messenger RNA molecules (mRNAs) by carrying information between hundreds of genes.

Previous evaluations of hemimastigotes ranked them according to the size and shape of their visible structures. By sequencing this genetic information, scientists were able to categorize hemimastigotes with unprecedented accuracy, unveiling a lineage that occupies a unique position among other eukaryotes – organisms with a membrane-enveloped nucleus.

"It is a branch of" The Tree of Life "that has been separated for a very long time, perhaps over a billion years, and we had no information about it, "wrote the study's lead author, Alastair Simpson, a professor of biology at Dalhousie University. , said in a statement.

The results of the study highlight the importance, until then unknown, of hemimastigotes to interpret the evolution of complex cellular life – the approximation of the origins of the cellular infrastructure to the resolution of the relations between the first organisms of the Earth, reported the authors of the study.

"This discovery literally redefines our branch of" The Tree of Life "at one of its deepest points," Simpson said. "This opens a new door to understanding the evolution of complex cells – and their ancient origins – long before animals and plants emerge on Earth."

The results were published online November 14 in the journal Nature.

Originally publishedsure Science live.