Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 19, 1995 TAG: 9505190106
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
When an ancient stingless bee died after becoming trapped in tree sap, bacteria in its gut turned into a spore. Now, in an experiment reminiscent of ``Jurassic Park,'' scientists have awakened the bacteria from a 25-million-year sleep.
Not only is the prehistoric microbe alive and well, it is producing a natural antibiotic that is being studied to determine if it has any medical value, Raul J. Cano of California Polytechnic University said Thursday.
Cano said the bacteria spore was found in the remains of a bee that had been entombed in amber, a hardened resin from ancient pine trees. When the bee died, he said, the bacteria apparently turned into a spore and remained trapped until uncovered in the laboratory.
``Some bacteria make spores as a means of survival,'' Cano said. ``These spores are very resistant to chemicals, heat and to pressure. They enable a bacteria to withstand long periods of dormancy.''
The researcher said the spores were not a form of reproduction for the bacteria, but a type of hibernation.
``They were in a deep slumber and we reawakened them,'' said Cano.
The amber that contained the bee was age-dated at 25 million to 40 million years. Bacteria also have been found in amber that is at least 135 million years old, but Cano said this specimen has not been studied closely and its uniqueness has not been confirmed.
A report on the research, by Cano and Monica K. Borucki, also of Cal Poly, is to be published today in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The study resembles work described in the novel and movie ``Jurassic Park.'' In that fictional plot, scientists recovered dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes that had been preserved in amber. The bee in the Cal Poly amber lived millions of years after dinosaurs died out.
Other researchers applauded Cano's work, but questioned whether the bacteria are, in fact, a modern contaminant and not from spores stored in the amber.
``The data are consistent with it being ancient,'' Peter Setlow, a University of Connecticut biochemist, said in Science. But he said the work did not actually prove the age of the bacteria. Others said the work needs to be duplicated by other labs to be accepted.
But Cano said the uniqueness of the ancient bee bacteria has already been identified by a drug company, Amberjean, Inc. of San Francisco, and Cal Poly has sold the microbe to the firm. Phone messages seeking comment from Amberjean were not returned.
In the experiment, Cano and Borucki obtained from a dealer some Dominican amber that contained remains of an extinct, stingless bee.
The researchers sterilized the surface of the amber and placed it inside a glass cabinet designed for the study of specimens in a germ-free environment. This prevented outside bacteria from contaminating the specimens.
Cano said the amber was cracked open and the bee removed. Spores found in the bee's stomach were then separated and cultured. They quickly revived.
The genetic pattern of the bacteria is unique, said Cano, but very similar to Bacillus sphaericus, a modern microbe that plays a key role in the lives of bees.
by CNB