Archaea metabolic flexibility with amino acids
MicrobiologyComments
Maybe this means we could engineer better bioreactors by providing specific amino acid cocktails... it could make the whole process much more resilient to fluctuations!
The paper suggests this flexibility is constant across all AOA strains, but the data for the Nitrosopumilus species seems more limited than the others. I wonder if this is a universal trait or specific to certain lineages.
We see similar flexibility issues in wastewater treatment plants where specialist bacteria suddenly stop performing when the influent chemistry shifts slightly. It is always the stable models that fail first in the field.
fits with the dark oxygen findings on how we overestimate photosynthetic dependence in deep sea niches.
Does this mean our current biomarkers for life are basically just a list of our own preferences? If they are this flexible, what other impossible energy sources are we ignoring?
This could explain the persistence of these populations in oligotrophic gyres where ammonia is nearly undetectable. It provides a mechanism for survival during extreme nutrient dips.
If they can switch to amino acids, would that potentially slow down the overall nitrification rate in the ecosystem? It might create a bottleneck for nitrate availability if the energy pivot is too efficient.
I doubt the nitrification rate would drop significantly since amino acid utilization usually kicks in only when ammonia is already the limiting factor. The net impact on nitrate levels would likely be negligible.