Discovery in Mono Lake

A new species of coannoflagellates has been discovered in Mono Lake, California, where the environment is extremely harsh due to high salinity and toxic levels of cyanide and arsenic. These tiny organisms, which resemble badminton balls or sperm with skirts, are closely related to animals, sharing a common ancestor that dates back hundreds of millions of years. Surprisingly, researchers found that these coannoflagellates contained live bacteria within their cell colonies, a departure from the typical behavior of these organisms that usually consume bacteria. Understanding this unique relationship between the coannoflagellates and their bacteria could provide valuable insights into animal-microbe interactions, such as those occurring in the human gut microbiome.