Scientists from Tomsk State University have discovered a previously unknown genus and family of bacteria in the artesian wells of Western Siberia, and for the first time in the world, they have isolated a culture of a microorganism called "audaxviator" ("bold traveler").
The discovery was made by specialists from the TSU Biological Institute with the support of the Russian Science Foundation. The new genus was named Desulfosceptrum tomskiensis, and the family was named Desulfosceptrumaceae.
The bacteria were found in the groundwater of the Tomsk, Kemerovo, and Tyumen regions. According to genomic data, they are close to the known extremophile Desulforudis audaxviator, but the differences were sufficient to be classified into a separate taxonomic group. The genus name reflects the shape of the cells, resembling a scepter (Latin sceptrum), and the species definition tomskiensis indicates the region of discovery.
At the same time, Tomsk microbiologists managed to cultivate the bacterium "audaxviator" ("bold traveler"), which had previously failed to be grown in laboratory conditions for more than 10 years. Its DNA was first discovered in the deep mine waters of South Africa, but no research group in the world was able to obtain a living culture.
Tomsk scientists isolated the microorganism from a thermal spring in the Verkhneketsky district of the Tomsk region. Genomic comparison showed a complete match with the South African sample.
According to Olga Karnachuk, Head of the Department of Plant Physiology, Biotechnology, and Bioinformatics at TSU, the genome of the "bold traveler" has remained unchanged since the time of the supercontinent Pangea, which existed 335–175 million years ago.
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