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Scientists discover unicellular organisms with largest number of nucleotide substitutions

The study of these microorganisms will make it possible to better understand the processes of changes in DNA and RNA

MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. Scientists from Tyumen State University and Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters (Russian Academy of Sciences), as part of an international team, discovered two new species of unicellular organisms in the lakes of Asia. The new organisms have the largest number of nucleotide substitutions among cases known to science, the press service of Tyumen State University reported on Wednesday.

The found microorganisms, according to Tyumen State University experts, belong to kinetoplastids — flagellate protozoa. Kinetoplastids are usually parasites, but the discovered microbes turned out to be free-living predators eating other protozoa. The discovery showed that some dangerous pathogenic organisms have "peaceful" relatives, which are convenient and safe to study in the laboratory. The study of these microorganisms will make it possible to better understand the processes of changes in DNA and RNA, leading to serious hereditary disorders, as well as to create new drugs for the treatment of parasitic diseases.

"RNA editing is a wide range of various molecular processes of RNA modification. Most often, these processes occur in the cells of unicellular organisms. Why they need it is not completely clear. But understanding these processes and the ability to manage them would be very useful to a person. This will make it possible to modify nucleic acids in order to create proteins with the desired and desired properties on their matrix. We can learn this quite well from the simplest, including those discovered in this study," the press service quoted the head of AquaBioSafe laboratory of Tyumen State University, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Denis Tikhonenkov. New species of microscopic unicellular organisms (Papus ankaliazontas and Apiculatamorpha spiralis) have been found in fresh and salt lakes in Indonesia, Vietnam and Turkey.

Further study of RNA and genetic material editing processes in unicellular organisms may be the key to managing harmful mutations that lead to serious genetic disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, the results of the research in the future may help to develop drugs against parasites, for example, against trypanosomatids. They cause many diseases both in humans (sleeping sickness, Chagas disease) and in animals (Trypanosoma equiperdum).

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