burtonii has a high "IQ" (a measure of adaptive potential) compared to many methanogens.Numerous genes in these two over-represented COG categories appear to have been acquired from ε-and δ-proteobacteria, as do specific genes involved in central metabolism such as a novel B form of aconitase. Transposases also distinguish M. burtonii from other archaea, and their genomic characteristics indicate they play an important role in evolving the M. burtonii genome. Our study reveals a capacity for this model psychrophile to evolve through genome plasticity (including nucleotide skew, horizontal gene transfer and transposase activity) that enables adaptation to the cold, and to the biological and physical changes that have occurred over the last several thousand years as it adapted from a marine, to an Antarctic lake environment.

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