Scientists Have Created New Artificial Microorganisms By Combining Two Very Different Organisms Into A Functional Entity. The Mixture Of Yeast And Bacteria Provides Evidence For A Long-standing Hypothesis About How Advanced Life May Evolve. The Cells Of Complex Organisms Have Tiny And Independent Organs Called Organelles, Some Of Which Have Their Own Independent Genomes, Which Are Different From Larger Organisms. This Includes Animal Mitochondria And Plant Chloroplasts, Both Of Which Produce Energy For Organisms.
A Leading Theory Holds That These Organelles Were Originally Independent Microorganisms, Swallowed By Other Cells, And Finally Entered A Symbiotic Relationship, Creating Conditions For The Evolution Of Complex Life.
Now A New Study Reproduces This Process, Called Endosymbiosis. Researchers At The University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign Designed And Produced An Artificial Hybrid Of Two Microorganisms - A Germinating Yeast And A Photosynthetic Cyanobacteria.
The Resulting Chimera Can Carry Out Photosynthesis Like Bacteria To Produce Energy And Reproduce Through Budding Like Yeast. These Organisms Can Reproduce For At Least 15 To 20 Generations, And The Team Says This Achievement Provides A Basis For The Hypothesis That Complex Life Begins Through Endosymbiosis.
Megahta's Lead Researcher Said: "Transforming A Non Photosynthetic Organism Into A Photosynthetic Chimeric Life Form. I Believe That We Have The New Ability To Establish Controllable And Synthetic Endosymbiotic Chimeras, Which Can Operate In Genetics And Metabolism, Research And Imaging In Analysis, Modeling And Prediction In Calculation, Which Will Break The Impasse In The Understanding Of This Significant Evolutionary Transformation."
This Is Not The First Engineering Mixture To Demonstrate Endosymbiosis. A 2018 Study Combined Yeast And E. Coli In A Similar Way And Adjusted Them So That Bacteria Must Get Vitamins From Yeast And Yeast Must Get Energy From Bacteria.
The New Study Is Published In The Journal Nature Communications.