GoKawiilResearchers culture Promethearchaeota, closest archaeal relatives of eukaryotes
Scientists collected biofilm samples from a gas production well in Japan's Southern Kanto gas field between 2019 and 2023 and used them to isolate strains of Promethearchaeota, an archaeal lineage previously known mainly from genomic data. Using targeted cultivation techniques with nutrient-rich anaerobic media, they successfully grew two cultures, named HC1 and SC1, from the microbially diverse biofilm.