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DNA-mineral interactions at the molecular level: implications for bacterial evolution and ecological inference - Livestream

Karina Krarup Sand

Extracellular DNA (eDNA) in the environment degrades rapidly unless adsorbed onto minerals, which enhances its stability. Currently there are vast amounts of DNA molecules preserved in our sediments. This mineral-bound DNA, although widely used to study past ecosystems, also poses significant implications for bacterial gene acquisition. By utilizing interfacial geochemistry, molecular level and bacterial approaches, this study explores (1) the role of mineral surfaces in DNA preservation in sediments and (2) the potential of soil bacteria to acquire mineral-adsorbed DNA through horizontal gene transfer (HGT).

The findings demonstrate that mineral surface properties substantially impact DNA stability, offering new insights into sedimentary DNA taphonomy. Understanding these interactions can enhance environmental DNA (eDNA) applications for ecosystem. Moreover, our data show that bacterial transformation of mineral-adsorbed DNA can lead to genetic diversity, and is influenced by mineral surface properties. These insights suggest that mineral-facilitated HGT could serve as a pathway for bacterial evolution, potentially affecting gene dispersal over extended temporal and spatial scales. In such an evolutionary scenario mineralogy and interfacial geochemical processes become central to the evolutionary process of maintaining fitness.

Speaker: Karina Krarup Sand, University of Copenhagen

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Saturday, 02/08/25

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