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Fire Amoeba Smashes Heat Tolerance Record
Developing
In Short: A newly discovered amoeba, Incendiamoeba cascadensis, has shattered the heat tolerance record for eukaryotes, surviving temperatures up to 145°F (63°C).
The fire amoeba was found in a tributary of Hot Springs Creek in a region characterized by its mountainous terrain and recent wildfires, creating a unique environment.
Beryl Rappaport, a PhD student at Syracuse University, identified the amoeba after setting up cultures at various temperatures, with the hottest being 57°C, the previous record for an amoeba.
When the team observed an amoeba thriving at 57°C, they increased the temperature further, finding that the mystery microbe could grow at 63°C, surpassing the previous eukaryote record of 60°C held by some algae and fungi.
The fire amoeba's genome shows adaptations that allow it to maintain protein and membrane stability at higher temperatures, giving it an edge over bacteria in harsh environments.
Rappaport noted that the amoeba can even survive up to 70°C by entering a dormant state, though the upper temperature limits are still unknown.
Debashish Bhattacharya, an evolutionary biologist at Rutgers University, praised the discovery, saying it's rare to find an exotic organism that has a significant impact on other species.
Rappaport emphasized the importance of studying eukaryotes in extreme environments, noting that very few have been described in detail.
The fire amoeba's resilience could lead to the discovery of even more heat-tolerant eukaryotes in the future, expanding our understanding of life's adaptability.
Background
South African cricketer Lhuan-dre Pretorius broke Chris Gayle's record for the highest individual score in men's T20 cricket with an unbeaten 188 in a domestic match.
A newly discovered amoeba, named Incendiamoeba cascadensis, has shattered the heat tolerance record for eukaryotes, surviving temperatures up to 145°F (63°C).
What's still developing
- One such pocket is a tributary of a little waterway called Hot Springs Creek, "that you would almost miss because it's surrounded by a lot of tall grasses," says Rappaport.
- "It's called genome streamlining," he says, "so they can then compete with bacteria which have smaller genomes and live in these harsh environments."
- "There's a very deep curiosity and desire to understand life at its limits and at its most extreme," she says.
- "And where that boundary is and what truly are our constraints." It's not unlike ultra-elite athletes who push themselves "to the absolute max of what we think is humanly possible," she says.
- "But in this case, we're just expanding it to life more generally" — specifically, microscopic life.
- But Beryl Rappaport, a PhD student in Oliverio's lab, says that until now, that same ability to beat the heat has been less studied in eukaryotes — a group whose members include many different species, from humans to single-celled amoebas.
- "Very mountainous. All of the pines. A lot of butterflies flitting around. It did experience some pretty rough fires in the past decade, so a lot of new understory growth. And then just these little steaming geothermal pockets."
- "That's characteristic amoeba movement."
- "fire amoeba of the Cascade mountain range."
- There, the team tried to grow any amoebas they found and study their DNA.
- The researchers named the amoeba Incendiamoeba cascadensis, which means “fire amoeba from the Cascades,” after the volcanic mountains where it was discovered.
- The newfound microbe can live and grow in temperatures up to 145 ° Fahrenheit A single-celled blob living in a California hot spring has smashed a heat tolerance record for an entire domain of life.