Epulopiscium viviparus

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Context

• Epulopiscium viviparus has modified its metabolism to make the most of its environment, by using a rare method to make energy and to move.

Details

• Epulopiscium viviparus is a bacteria that lives symbiotically in the guts of a fish, Naso tonganus.
• It is found in tropical ocean environments.
• The first member of Epulopiscium m was discovered in 1985.
• Epulopiscium Viviparus has modified its metabolism to make the most of its environment, by using a rare method to make energy and to move (the same swimming method is used by the bacteria that cause cholera), and by devoting a huge portion of its genetic code to making enzymes that can harvest the nutrients available in its host’s gut.
• It makes enzymes that are highly efficient at nutrient extraction from their host fish, especially carbohydrates called polysaccharides from the algae that form a large part of N. tonganus's diet.
• It has plentiful enzymes that make ATP too, the 'energy currency' that supports a wide variety of cellular processes.
• Researchers discovered space for these molecules in a unique membrane, similar to the mitochondria of more complex organism.