The Mystery of Googolplex: Trillion-DNA Strands in California Mud

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on the discovery of extracellular DNA strands in California mud, which contain methanogenic DNA sequences potentially linked to the concept of "borgs." Researchers are analyzing trillions of these DNA strands, as culturing methanogens in laboratory settings proves challenging. The discussion also touches on the implications of DNA integration from external sources into organisms' genomes, highlighting the role of retroviruses in human DNA, which comprises about 8% of ancient viral sequences.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of extracellular DNA and its significance in microbial ecology.
  • Familiarity with methanogenic bacteria and their ecological roles.
  • Knowledge of DNA integration mechanisms, particularly involving retroviruses.
  • Awareness of lateral gene transfer and its implications in evolution.
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  • Research the role of methanogens in biogeochemical cycles.
  • Explore the mechanisms of DNA integration in eukaryotic cells.
  • Study the impact of ancient viral sequences on human genetics.
  • Investigate lateral gene transfer in various organisms and its evolutionary consequences.
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for microbiologists, geneticists, evolutionary biologists, and anyone interested in the interactions between environmental DNA and organismal evolution.

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TL;DR
Extracellular huge DNA strands found in anoxic soils. The strands were named 'borgs' because the kid of the researcher suggested it - too much Star Trek I guess.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/202...equences-known-borgs-recovered-california-mud

These are extracellular very large DNA strands that have some methanogenic DNA sequences. The researchers feel that these bacteria may be the source of borgs. Since growing methanogens in the lab is difficult, the researchers have rely on searching through incredible numbers of DNA strands found in samples of mud. The article mentions sorting through literally trillions of extracellular DNA strands in the samples.

-- posted because, in part, names for new "things" sometimes are inspired by children. Example from Mathworld:

Googolplex is a large number equal to. (i.e., 1 with a googol number of 0s written after it). The term was coined in 1938 after 9-year-old Milton Sirotta, nephew of Edward Kasner, coined the term "googol" and Kasner extended it to this larger number (Kasner 1989, pp. 20-27; Bialik 2004).

Googolplex -- from Wolfram MathWorld​

https://mathworld.wolfram.com › Googolplex
 
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If I read it correctly, another interesting point is that it is possible for these DNA strands to be incorporated into an organism's genome perhaps helping them to evolve and adapt to new environments. Should we let our kids play in the dirt?
 
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How bizarre. Hopefully, they can get some culture-based experiments done.
 
gleem said:
If I read it correctly, another interesting point is that it is possible for these DNA strands to be incorporated into an organism's genome perhaps helping them to evolve and adapt to new environments. Should we let our kids play in the dirt?
With Eukaryotic cells?

Lateral transfer has been known about for a while but I always associated it with microbes plasmids etc
 
There are rare cases among metazoans (animals).
Bdellid rotifers provide a well documented, long term example.
 
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FWIW humans have about 8% of DNA is from other "things", notably retroviruses, which embed viral DNA into our DNA. Termed "DNA integration"

Example:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC509317/ ::
[synopsis]
[snip]
...
Retroviruses use viral enzymes to copy their own genome, which is stored in an RNA transcript, into DNA. Now recognizable by the host's genome, the virus can integrate into one of the host's chromosomes. In this study, Mitchell et al. studied vectors derived from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), avian sarcoma-leukosis virus (ASLV), and murine leukemia virus (MLV). Introducing the viral vectors into human cells, the authors analyzed the gene expression profiles of the cells to determine where vectors integrate into human chromosomes and which, if any, genes they activate. ...
[/snip]
[/synopsis]
 
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What happens when one of these new genes strikes a chord with the host's genome?
 
It would have to integrated into the new genome.
Then it would probably evolve to better work with that specific genome it ended up in (interact better with the other parts of the genome).
May eventually (over long periods of time) evolve new functions
 
Often times nothing happens. This perception is because of the DNA having been there for really long periods of time. The genes in the DNA appear not to be expressed. Note the weasel words...

They are usually called 'Ancient virus'. They are virus genome sequences that have been "dragged along" in our genome going as far back as 40 million years. Most seem to be inactive. The sequences came from three genera: Bornavirus, Ebolavirus, and Margurgvirus. Note that virus taxonomy is really weird compared to plant and animal taxonomy. There no species in viral taxonomy, there are what are termed "quasispecies" of virus.

Ancient DNA from these viruses make up about 8% of human DNA.
Source:
DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1001030
Unexpected inheritance: multiple integrations of ancient bornavirus and ebolavirus/marburgvirus sequences in vertebrate genomes
Vladimir A Belyi 1 , Arnold J Levine, Anna Marie Skalka

For a better answer to @gleem
-> A more student friendly article about 'the non-human living in you':
https://www.cshl.edu/the-non-human-living-inside-of-you/