Bacteria reunite after millions of years of separation

Like the brothers forced to separate because of the harsh life, two species of bacteria conduct the unification process after finding each other in the intestines of animals.

Researchers believe that the reunification of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli is a good example of the ability to influence human evolution.'We are talking about hybridization - a new phenomenon that has been recognized as an important part of evolution in recent times, ' said microbiologist Samuel Sheppard at Oxford University (UK). expression.

Sheppard and colleagues analyzed DNA, genetic information, from bacteria that live in the digestive organs of animals and wildlife.

Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli are thought to share a common ancestor in the past . When evolutionary pressures appeared, their ancestors split into two new species and took over the different places in the gut of wild animals like chickens, pigs, and buffaloes.

The concept of species is one of the most controversial topics among biologists. Although C. jejuni and C. coli share 85% of the genetic code, they are still considered to be two different species.

Campylobacter jejuni (Photo: De Wood / Stephen Ausmus / USDA)

'Chimpanzees and people share 98% of genetic code. Therefore, in our opinion, the fusion of two species of bacteria is a remarkable phenomenon. It is a genetically large evolutionary step, like mating between shrimp and flies, ' Sheppard said.

According to Sheppard, the genetic separation between C. jejuni and C. coli has been reversed when human agricultural production begins. The process of consolidation between them accelerated gradually in recent decades, when the demand for food and the industrialization wave accelerated the formation of large farms.

'Today people feed a lot of animals on a farm, so the microbial habitat also changes,' Sheppard argues.

Sheppard emphasized that chickens often eat other animal manure because they mistakenly thought it was food. This habit helps two species of bacteria that have been ecologically separated to meet each other."By changing the habitat of bacteria, we are changing ourselves," Sheppard explains.

Scientists claim that bacteria rarely succeed in gene exchange, but when two descendants of the same species meet, the likelihood of success is enormous. Sheppard did not determine the exact time for the integration process, but he thought the man-made evolutionary pressures would spur the process.