科学家在北冰洋发现了与衣原体相关的细菌种类

Researchers have made a surprising find under the Arctic Ocean’s seafloor — a bacteria species that is the biological cousin of chlamydia, the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the US.

研究人员在北冰洋海底发现了一种令人惊讶的细菌，这种细菌是衣原体的近亲，衣原体是美国最常见的细菌性传播疾病。

The scientists, in the academic journal Current Biology, predict their discovery could help them better understand how bacteria in the Chlamydiae family evolved to become infectious, LiveScience reported.

据《生活科学》报道，科学家们在学术期刊《当代生物学》上预测，他们的发现可能有助于更好地理解衣原体家族中的细菌是如何进化成具有传染性的。

“Finding that chlamydia has marine sediment relatives has given us new insights into how chlamydial pathogens evolved,” Jennah Dharamshi, the study’s lead author, said in a statement.

该研究的第一作者Jennah Dharamshi在一份声明中说:“发现衣原体与海洋沉积物有亲缘关系，使我们对衣原体病原体的进化有了新的认识。”。

Researchers came across the new bacteria while they were exploring seafloor sediment near the hydrothermal vent known as Loki’s Castle, which is between Iceland and Norway.

研究人员在冰岛和挪威之间被称为洛基城堡(Loki's Castle)的热液喷口附近探索海底沉积物时发现了这种新细菌。

The biological cousin was found about two miles under the ocean’s surface, in an extreme environment void of oxygen and other life forms that could serve as hosts.

在海洋表面下大约两英里处，在一个没有氧气和其他生命形式可以充当宿主的极端环境中，发现了这一生物近亲。

“Most knowledge about chlamydiae is based on studies of pathogenic lineages in the lab,” the statement reads. “The new research … shows that chlamydiae can be found in the most unexpected of places.”

声明中写道:“关于衣原体的大多数知识都是基于实验室中对致病性谱系的研究。”“新的研究表明，衣原体可以在最意想不到的地方找到。”

Chlamydia infects an estimated 2.9 million people every year in the US, according to the CDC.

据美国疾病预防控制中心(CDC)估计，美国每年有290万人感染衣原体。

“This group of bacteria could be playing a much larger role in marine ecology than we previously thought,” Netherlands researcher Daniel Tamarit said in the statement.

荷兰研究人员丹尼尔·塔马里特(Daniel Tamarit)在声明中说：“这组细菌在海洋生态中的作用可能比我们之前想象的要大得多。”。