這可能就是為什么“惡魔蠕蟲”可以生活在其他動物無法生存的地方

這可能就是為什么“惡魔蠕蟲”可以生活在其他動物無法生存的地方

When it comes to creatures that have been sharing this planet with us for millennia, this tiny worm is probably the devil you don’t know.

當談到與我們共享這個星球數千年的生物時，這種小蟲子可能是你不認識的魔鬼。

Halicephalobus mephisto, aka the devil worm, magnified 200 times. (Photo: Prof. John Bracht, American University)

That’s because the aptly named "devil worm" haunts places that are difficult, if not downright impossible, for other animal life to exist.

這是因為這種被恰當地命名為“惡魔蠕蟲”的生物經常出沒于其他動物難以生存的地方，如果不是完全不可能的話。

In fact, the first of its kind wasn’t discovered until 2008 — about a mile down a South African gold mine. The critter, which is a kind of nematode or roundworm, was immediately hailed as the deepest-living animal ever found. And that’s a record the devil worm is likely to keep.

事實上，直到2008年，在南非金礦地下一英里處才發(fā)現了第一個這樣的金礦。這種小生物是一種線蟲或蛔蟲，被譽為迄今為止發(fā)現的最長壽的動物。這是魔鬼蠕蟲保持的記錄。

After all, who else can eke out an existence amid the intense heat and squelching pressure of such depths?

畢竟，在這么深的地方，還有誰能在這樣的高溫和高壓下生存呢?

The devil worm — scientists dubbed it Halicephalobus mephisto, after the Faustian demon who presided over hell.

惡魔蠕蟲——科學家稱它為Halicephalobus mephisto，以掌管地獄的浮士德惡魔命名。

Eventually, scientists did pry loose a few of the devil worm’s secrets. For instance, to keep its svelte half-millimeter figure, it nibbles happily on bacteria. And, since it’s likely been squirming far below our feet for thousands of years, the creature has had plenty of time to evolve into its niche habitat.

最終，科學家們揭開了惡魔蠕蟲的一些秘密。例如，為了保持它苗條的半毫米身材，它喜歡啃細菌。而且，由于它可能已經在我們腳下蠕動了數千年，這種生物有足夠的時間進化到它的生態(tài)位棲息地。

But what about its strange superpower — the ability to withstand the infernal heat and impossible pressures of its own private underworld? To find a clue, scientists had to probe much deeper. In fact, scientists at American University just gave the devil worm another title: the first subterrestrial animal ever to have its genome sequenced.

但它那奇怪的超能力——能承受地獄般的高溫和來自地下世界的不可思議的壓力——又如何呢?為了找到一條線索，科學家們不得不進行更深入的探索。事實上，美國大學的科學家們剛剛給這種惡魔蠕蟲起了另一個名字:有史以來第一個基因組測序的亞陸類動物。

The research, published this month in the journal Nature Communications, reveals a creature that’s packing a remarkable amount of Hsp70.

這項研究發(fā)表在本月的《自然通訊》雜志上，揭示了一種攜帶大量Hsp70的生物。

Known as "heat-shock" protein, Hsp70 is found in much smaller amounts in pretty much all life forms. Its job is to repair cells that are damaged from heat. And while other nematodes have Hsp70, H. mephisto boasts it in spades.

被稱為“熱休克”蛋白的Hsp70在幾乎所有的生命形式中含量都要少得多。它的工作是修復被熱損壞的細胞。當其他線蟲有Hsp70時，H. mephisto卻吹噓自己有Hsp70。

The sequencing revealed the worm’s Hsp70 genes were copies of themselves, essentially giving it duplicates and triplicates and quadri — err, you get the idea — until it could endure even the most hellish of habitats.

測序結果顯示，這種蠕蟲的Hsp70基因是自身的拷貝，本質上給了它重復、三次和四次的機會——呃，你懂的——直到它能忍受最可怕的棲息地。

The worm is also packing spare copies of a gene called AIG1, which is linked to cellular survival in plants and animals.

這種蠕蟲還攜帶了一種名為AIG1的基因的備用副本，這種基因與植物和動物的細胞生存有關。

“The Devil Worm can't run away; it's underground,” Bracht explains in a press release. “It has no choice but to adapt or die. We propose that when an animal cannot escape intense heat, it starts making additional copies of these two genes to survive.”

“魔鬼蟲跑不掉;它在地下，”Bracht在一份新聞稿中解釋道。“它別無選擇，要么適應，要么死亡。我們認為，當動物無法逃脫高溫時，它就會開始復制這兩種基因來生存。”

Those genes suggest the devil worm took a long evolutionary road to get to the point where it can make a kind of hell its home. And just maybe it can teach us a thing or two about how to live with a devil we do know: climate change.

這些基因表明，這種惡魔蠕蟲經歷了漫長的進化過程，才達到了可以把地獄當成家的地步。也許它能教會我們一兩件事，如何與我們熟知的惡魔——氣候變化——共存。

We may look to the humble nematode, a creature with an incredible knack for rolling with environmental change. Perhaps we may even replicate its genetic hazmat suit, replete with all those insulating Hsp70 proteins.

我們可以看看不起眼的線蟲，一種有著令人難以置信的適應環(huán)境變化的本領的生物。也許我們甚至可以復制它的基因防護服，里面充滿了那些絕緣的Hsp70蛋白。

“[Nematodes] have a reputation as some of the toughest multicellular life forms that have colonized the most inhospitable habitats,” Andreas Teske, a professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, who was not involved with the new study, tells Discover Magazine. “They have colonized every hidden corner of the planet where the most basic requirements are met — oxygen, water, bacteria as food.”

北卡羅來納大學教堂山分校教授安德烈亞斯·特斯克沒有參與這項新研究，他在接受《發(fā)現》雜志采訪時表示:“(線蟲)被認為是最頑強的多細胞生物，它們占據了最不適宜生存的棲息地。”“他們已經在地球上每一個最基本的需求——氧氣、水、作為食物的細菌——得到滿足的隱秘角落里開拓了殖民地。”

And maybe H. mephisto surfaced just in time for us to steal a page from its genetic playbook.

也許H. mephisto出現得正是時候，我們從它的基因劇本中偷取了一頁。