How Bacteria Adapt to Different Temperatures

Scientists have been puzzled about how bacteria come to prefer certain temperatures for growth. To shed light on this, they studied 64 bacteria from the Thermotogota phylum. They found that the last common ancestor of these bacteria was a thermophile, which means it loved high temperatures. However, some of these bacteria later evolved to prefer milder (mesophilic) or even hotter (hyperthermophilic) conditions. By looking at the gain and loss of genes over time, researchers discovered that adapting to these different temperatures involves picking up necessary genes and shedding unnecessary ones.

They even found 68 genes that could be linked to specific temperature preferences. Many of these genes play roles in metabolism, signal transduction, and regulating how genes get turned on and off. Interestingly, many of these genes were borrowed from other bacteria and archaea that live at similar temperatures. This suggests that these borrowed genes help different bacteria adapt independently to their preferred temperatures.

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