title: The complete genome of a viable archaeum isolated from 123-million-year-old rock salt.
abstract: Live microbes have been isolated from rock salt up to Permian age. Only obligatory cellular functions can be performed in halite-buried cells. Consequently, their genomic sequences are likely to remain virtually unchanged. However, the available sequence information from these organisms is scarce and consists of mainly ribosomal 16S sequences. Here, live archaea were isolated from early Cretaceous (∼ 123 million years old) halite from the depth of 2000 m in Qianjiang Depression, Hubei Province, China. The sample was radiologically dated and subjected to rigorous surface sterilization before microbe isolation. The isolates represented a single novel species of Halobacterium, for which we suggest the name Halobacterium hubeiense, type strain Hbt. hubeiense JI20-1. The species was closely related to a Permian (225-280 million years old) isolate, Halobacterium noricense, originating from Alpine rock salt. This study is the first one to publish the complete genome of an organism originating from surface-sterilized ancient halite. In the future, genomic data from halite-buried microbes can become a key factor in understanding the mechanisms by which these organisms are able to survive in harsh conditions deep underground or possibly on other celestial bodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Salla T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Jaakkola
authors.affiliation: Department of Membrane Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, München, Germany.
authors.forename: Friedhelm
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Janne J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ravantti
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Qinggong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Xiangdong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, The Chinese Academy of Science, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Hongling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, The Chinese Academy of Science, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Chunhe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Hanna M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Oksanen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Dennis H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Bamford
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002681:China; D064112:Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D019641:DNA, Archaeal / Q000235:genetics*; D020745:Genome, Archaeal / Q000235:genetics*; D006217:Halobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012965:Sodium Chloride
chemical_list: D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012965:Sodium Chloride