Even simple organisms need the bare necessities, scientists show
Friday November 27 2009
Scientists have unwrapped the "bare essentials of life" from a simple organism that is in fact surprisingly complex, it was revealed yesterday.
Researchers took an in-depth look at the bug Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
The microbe, which causes "atypical" pneumonia, has no nucleus housing its genetic material, unlike more advanced organisms.
One team of scientists investigated the bug's DNA while two others studied its metabolism and proteins.
The researchers, whose work is reported in 'Science', found that many of the microbe's molecules were multifunctional.
Metabolic enzymes were involved in multiple reactions and other proteins operated within more than one protein complex.
As in eukaryotes -- organisms with a nucleus -- a large proportion of the bug's genetic code was not translated into proteins.
Despite having a very small genome the bacterium was highly flexible and able to adjust to changes in environmental conditions.
Dr Anne-Claude Gavin. from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory said: "Those are the things that not even the simplest organism can do without and that have remained untouched by millions of years of evolution -- the bare essentials of life."
- John von Radowitz in London
Irish Independent
