Bdelloid rotifer after surviving an infection. C. G. Wilson 2019
Many antibiotics—lifesavers in modern medicine—were not originally created by scientists. They are nature’s weapons, created by fungi and bacteria. Experts figured out ways to unlock these natural defenses and create drugs to fight infections.
Experts from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and the University of Oxford have shown that freshwater microbe species have a unique trick up their sleeves. These tiny wonders are rotifers.
When rotifers get fungal infections, they turn on hundreds of genes “stolen” from bacteria and other microorganisms in freshwater. These stolen genes act like recipes, allowing rotifers to produce their own antibiotics and fight back.
“For rotifers, it seems to be working very well: about 75% of animals in the resistant rotifer species survived the infection after expressing an antibiotic-like gene,” Irina Arkhipova, study co-author and senior scientist at MBL told Interesting Engineering.
This is significant because it is the first time scientists have witnessed animals exploiting stolen genes for self-defense on a large scale.
Seen for the first time
Our environment supports a hidden universe of microscopic organisms about which we know surprisingly little.
This hidden talent has been spotted in bdelloid rotifers, or “crawling wheel-animals.” Surprisingly, these tiny rotifers — no larger than a hair’s breadth — are full-fledged animals with heads, mouths, guts, muscles, and even nerves.
For millions of years, it seems rotifers have been accumulating genes from others, and scientists have known about it. However, this is the first time scientists have seen rotifers using them to fight off infections.
“This phenomenon is highly uncommon, as multicellular animals are very good at protecting their germ lines from foreign DNA. Bdelloid rotifers hold the record among metazoans in this regard, as we have detected an exceptionally high proportion of horizontally transferred genes in their genomes,” explained Arkhipova.
Infected bdelloid rotifer. C. G. Wilson 2024
The mystery of gene theft
These genes create a special class of enzymes that string together amino acids to form non-ribosomal peptides.
This discovery could help in the fight against antibiotic resistance. As bacteria become more resistant to the current drugs, rotifers might offer clues for developing new, safer antibiotics.
But why are rotifers the only ones doing this? The study authors suggest that it has something to do with how they reproduce. Unlike most animals, rotifers don’t have sex, which limits genetic variation. Stealing genes from microbes and even plants may be their method of introducing new biological strategies to fight off infections and survive.
“If rotifers don’t find a way to change their genes, they could go extinct,” said Tim Barraclough, a study co-author from the University of Oxford, in the press release.
We questioned Arkhipova about the next stages in investigating the possibilities of rotifer-derived antibiotics. Arkhipova said: “The next steps would be to investigate the exact chemical nature of the compounds that rotifers can produce, and to test the conditions under which their synthesis can be induced.”
“It remains to be seen what kinds of stresses can activate these clusters, potentially providing clues about their use in combatting other types of disease, like bacterial infections, or for other purposes,” the author added.
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The findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications.
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Mrigakshi Dixit Mrigakshi is a science journalist who enjoys writing about space exploration, biology, and technological innovations. Her work has been featured in well-known publications including Nature India, Supercluster, The Weather Channel and Astronomy magazine. If you have pitches in mind, please do not hesitate to email her.
