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"We've been trying to crack this mystery for years and we finally discovered the shipworm's hidden bacterial symbiont secret."

For that, they compared the genomes of symbionts across the Isthmus of Panama with other lucinid symbiont genomes from around the world.

"Through horizontal gene transfer, lucinid symbionts likely obtained the nitrogen fixation genes from another symbiont lineage," notes Morel-Letelier.

Moreover, it was found that signalling exchange between legume and its symbiont plays a critical role in modulating the profile of root secreted molecules, influencing the assembly of a symbiotic root microbiome.

Once they applied it to the original seawater samples collected from the North Atlantic, their suspicions about it being a symbiont were quickly confirmed.