Strange Organism Found in Mono Lake (USA) is a New Species Described as Having an “Unusual Relationship” with Surrounding Species.
According to Science Alert, the peculiar organism has been named Barroeca monosierra by scientists and belongs to the choanoflagellate group of bacteria.
It is a type of unicellular organism that can aggregate to form populations, which then function as a single multicellular entity.
However, Barroeca monosierra exhibits many differences compared to other species in the same group.
The clusters of “strange Mono Lake organisms” take on a spherical shape, with a microscopic image of a stained cluster using fluorescent dye, showing many other bacteria trapped inside – (Photo: Alain Garcia De Las Bayonas).
A research team from the USA, UK, and Spain discovered this unusual organism in Mono Lake, a water body with extreme conditions that are completely inhospitable to life as we know it.
Located in California, this “toxic lake” is three times saltier than the Pacific Ocean and is filled with chlorides, carbonates, and sulfates that have accumulated over more than 80,000 years. Only a few tiny, peculiar organisms can survive there.
Yet, this appears to be a promised land for the strange organisms that the research team has just found.
They thrive in Mono Lake, forming populations of nearly 100 cells, which are four times larger than other species in the same group.
These unicellular organisms resemble sperm cells, with long tails called flagella that they use to propel themselves. When they form a swarm, the individuals orient their flagella outward to help the entire group spin and roll like a sea urchin.
In other choanoflagellate populations, the heads of each organism come together in the center.
However, in the populations of Barroeca monosierra, the center is hollow, with the cells connected by an extracellular matrix of proteins and carbohydrates.
Surprisingly, upon analysis, scientists discovered a chaotic mass of DNA in this supposedly hollow center.
RNA probes indicated the presence of bacteria there, while experiments with fluorescent amino acids showed that they were still alive and not merely remnants from the previous meal of the Barroeca monosierra cluster.
The structure resembling this strange swarm has surrounded and trapped many other species within its confines.
In another experiment, the authors found that the bacteria within actively entered and formed a symbiotic population with the strange organisms.
Never before had this group of microorganisms or anything similar been known to have the capability to live symbiotically with bacteria.
This transforms the entire cluster of unusual organisms into something akin to a multicellular entity similar to us, possessing its own unique microbiome in its gut.
According to a paper published in the scientific journal mBio, this leads scientists to suspect that this strange organism may be a descendant of a species from billions of years ago that played a crucial role in the evolution of life on Earth.
This represents a leap from simple unicellular life to multicellular organisms.
The Mono Lake organism is still being studied by scientists with the hope of uncovering further details that could explain the origins of complex multicellular life from their own bodies, which also elucidates our own origins.
