In a rare evolutionary event, two lifeforms have merged into a single organism through primary endosymbiosis. This phenomenon, which has only occurred twice in Earth’s history, has given rise to all complex life as we know it. Recently, an international team of scientists observed this event taking place between a species of algae commonly found in the ocean and a bacterium.
Tyler Coale, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz, led one of the two recent studies that uncovered this phenomenon. He explained that the first time this event occurred, it gave rise to all complex life and that a billion years ago, it happened again with the chloroplast, leading to the evolution of plants.
The process involves the algae engulfing the bacterium, providing it with nutrients, energy, and protection in return for functions it previously couldn’t perform. In this instance, the ability to fix nitrogen from the air. The algae then incorporates the bacterium as an organelle, an internal organ vital to the host’s functioning. Researchers from the US and Japan who made this discovery believe it will provide new insights into evolution and could potentially revolutionize agriculture by engineering organelles like these into crop plants.
The research detailing this discovery was published in two scientific journals: Science and Cell. Scientists from institutions such as MIT
