A team of researchers studying microbial life in the Nakabusa Onsen in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, have published draft genomes from microorganisms recovered from the moderately sulfidic, alkaline hot spring. The microbes were recovered from cone-forming microbial mats found in the spring. The first paper reports sequences from two aerobic microbes that represent a novel lineage within the Armatimonadetes phylum. The second paper describes a sequence from a newly identified member of the genus Chloracidobacterium.

The papers, “Draft Genome Sequences of a Novel Lineage of Armatimonadetes Recovered from Japanese Hot Springs,” and “Draft Genome Sequence of Chloracidobacterium sp. CP2_5A, a Phototrophic Member of the Phylum Acidobacteria Recovered from a Japanese Hot Spring,” were published in the journal Genome Announcements. The work was supported by NASA Astrobiology in part through opportunities including the Exobiology & Evolutionary Biology Program and the Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology. Support for the research also came from the ELSI Origins Network.