Two species unite for the first time in a millennium

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Two lifeforms have recently merged into a single organism for the first time in at least a billion years, a process known as primary endosymbiosis. This rare event has only occurred twice in Earth’s history, with the first giving rise to mitochondria and the second to plants. An international team of scientists observed this evolutionary phenomenon between a species of ocean algae and a bacterium.

Tyler Coale, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz, led the research that uncovered this rare occurrence. This event is crucial as it can offer new insights into evolution and has the potential to revolutionize agriculture. The algae engulfs the bacterium, providing it with nutrients and energy in exchange for functions it previously could not perform, such as fixing nitrogen from the air.

The algae incorporates the bacterium as an organelle, becoming vital to its host’s functioning. This discovery, recently published in scientific journals, Science and Cell, may provide clues into engineering such an organelle into crop plants. The researchers involved in this groundbreaking discovery came from various institutions in the US, Japan, and Spain, further enhancing our understanding of evolution and agriculture.