科學家在北冰洋發(fā)現(xiàn)了與衣原體相關的細菌種類

科學家在北冰洋發(fā)現(xiàn)了與衣原體相關的細菌種類

Researchers have made a surprising find under the Arctic Ocean’s seafloor — a bacteria species that is the biological cousin of chlamydia, the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the US.

研究人員在北冰洋海底發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種令人驚訝的細菌，這種細菌是衣原體的近親，衣原體是美國最常見的細菌性傳播疾病。

The scientists, in the academic journal Current Biology, predict their discovery could help them better understand how bacteria in the Chlamydiae family evolved to become infectious, LiveScience reported.

據(jù)《生活科學》報道，科學家們在學術期刊《當代生物學》上預測，他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)可能有助于更好地理解衣原體家族中的細菌是如何進化成具有傳染性的。

“Finding that chlamydia has marine sediment relatives has given us new insights into how chlamydial pathogens evolved,” Jennah Dharamshi, the study’s lead author, said in a statement.

該研究的第一作者Jennah Dharamshi在一份聲明中說:“發(fā)現(xiàn)衣原體與海洋沉積物有親緣關系，使我們對衣原體病原體的進化有了新的認識。”。

Researchers came across the new bacteria while they were exploring seafloor sediment near the hydrothermal vent known as Loki’s Castle, which is between Iceland and Norway.

研究人員在冰島和挪威之間被稱為洛基城堡(Loki's Castle)的熱液噴口附近探索海底沉積物時發(fā)現(xiàn)了這種新細菌。

The biological cousin was found about two miles under the ocean’s surface, in an extreme environment void of oxygen and other life forms that could serve as hosts.

在海洋表面下大約兩英里處，在一個沒有氧氣和其他生命形式可以充當宿主的極端環(huán)境中，發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一生物近親。

“Most knowledge about chlamydiae is based on studies of pathogenic lineages in the lab,” the statement reads. “The new research … shows that chlamydiae can be found in the most unexpected of places.”

聲明中寫道:“關于衣原體的大多數(shù)知識都是基于實驗室中對致病性譜系的研究。”“新的研究表明，衣原體可以在最意想不到的地方找到。”

Chlamydia infects an estimated 2.9 million people every year in the US, according to the CDC.

據(jù)美國疾病預防控制中心(CDC)估計，美國每年有290萬人感染衣原體。

“This group of bacteria could be playing a much larger role in marine ecology than we previously thought,” Netherlands researcher Daniel Tamarit said in the statement.

荷蘭研究人員丹尼爾·塔馬里特(Daniel Tamarit)在聲明中說：“這組細菌在海洋生態(tài)中的作用可能比我們之前想象的要大得多。”。