Gene transfer drives community cooperation in geothermal habitats

2025/06/20 by Debashish Bhattacharya, Julia Van Etten, Gabriella Panayotakis +2 · 1 voice
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology #Protist diversity and phylogeny #Microbial Fuel Cells and Bioremediation

paper · doi:10.1016/j.tim.2025.06.004

openalex publication_date 2025/06/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/16

Abstract

Cyanidiophyceae red algae dominate many geothermal habitats and provide important tools for investigating the evolution of extremophilic eukaryotes and associated microbial communities. We propose that resource sharing drove genome reduction in Cyanidiophyceae and enabled the neofunctionalization of genes in multi-enzyme pathways. Utilizing arsenic detoxification as a model, we discuss how the sharing of gene functions by other members of the microbial assemblage weakened selection on homologs in the Cyanidiophyceae, allowing long-term gene persistence via the putative gain of novel functions. This hypothesis, referred to as the Integrated Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) Model (IHM), attempts more generally to explain how extremophilic eukaryotes may have transitioned from 'hot start' milieus by functional innovations driven by the duplication and divergence of HGT-derived genes.

Citations

• The Constructive Black Queen hypothesis: new functions can evolve under conditions favouring gene loss
• Extremophilic red algae as models for understanding adaptation to hostile environments and the evolution of eukaryotic life on the early earth
• The phycobilisome, a light-harvesting complex responsive to environmental conditions

Discussions

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