A parasite that not only feeds of its host, but also makes the host change its own metabolism and thus biology. Microbiologists have shown this for the very first time in a specific group of parasitic microbes, so-called DPANN archea. Their study shows that these archaea are very 'picky eaters', which might drive their hosts to change the menu.
A parasite that not only feeds of its host, but also makes the host change its own metabolism and thus biology. Microbiologists have shown this for the very first time in a specific group of parasitic microbes, so-called DPANN archea. Their study shows that these archaea are very 'picky eaters', which might drive their hosts to change the menu.
Archaea are a distinct group of microbes, similar to bacteria*. The team of NIOZ microbiologists studies the so-called DPANN-archaea, that have particularly tiny cells and relatively little genetic material. The DPANN archaea are about half of all known archaea and are dependent on other microbes for their livelihood: they attach to their host and take lipids from them as building material for their membrane, their own outer layer.
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