Microbes in Extreme Environments

Is there an apparent link between the evolutionary processes of microbial communities and their environments? In order to conclude whether this is true, six different habitats were examined using metagenomics samples to see if the evolutionary process is dependent on the type of microbial community. The results demonstrated that there is a correlation between the evolutionary process and their communities. It was shown that microbes that live in extreme habitats have a capability to evolve faster. Basically, microbes who live in hot springs or saline lakes evolve more rapidly compared to microbes who live in “normal” environments. Microbes living in extreme habitats may evolve quickly due to their constant exposure to stress in their extreme environments. 

Fig. 5 

The figure above demonstrates how there is higher relative evolutionary rates and relative abundance of transposases in extreme microbial environments in comparison to normal environments.