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A microbial partnership thriving in an acidic hot spring in Yellowstone National Park has surrendered some of its lifestyle secrets to researchers. The team isolated the archaeon Nanopusillus acidilobi and cultured these tiny microbes – just 100 to 300 billionths of a meter in size – and can now study how they interact with their host, another archaeon (Acidilobus). The relationships between these two organisms can serve as a valuable model to study the evolution and mechanisms of more complex systems.
Image credit: Mircea Podar
