科學(xué)家首次發(fā)現(xiàn)無氧生存的動物

科學(xué)家首次發(fā)現(xiàn)無氧生存的動物

Researchers on Monday said they found the first animal out of millions of known species that can survive its entire life without oxygen.

周一，研究人員說，他們在數(shù)百萬已知物種中，發(fā)現(xiàn)了第一種可以在沒有氧氣的情況下存活一生的動物。

The Henneguya salminicola (H. salminicola) normally lives in the muscle of its salmon host. The 10-celled creature has evolved to the point where it doesn’t breathe at all, according to a study published in the National Academy of Sciences.

H.salminicola通常生活在其鮭魚宿主的肌肉中。據(jù)美國國家科學(xué)院(National Academy of Sciences)發(fā)表的一項研究顯示，這種10細胞生物已經(jīng)進化到完全不呼吸的地步。

“Aerobic respiration was thought to be ubiquitous in animals, but now we confirmed that this is not the case,” said Dorothée Huchon, a zoologist at Israel’s Tel Aviv University in a press release. “Our discovery shows that evolution can go in strange directions. Aerobic respiration is a major source of energy and yet we found an animal that gave up this critical pathway.”

以色列特拉維夫大學(xué)的動物學(xué)家Dorothee Huchon在一份新聞稿中說:“原以為有氧呼吸在動物中是普遍存在的，但現(xiàn)在我們證實事實并非如此。”“我們的發(fā)現(xiàn)表明，進化可以朝著奇怪的方向發(fā)展。有氧呼吸是能量的主要來源，但有的動物放棄了這一關(guān)鍵途徑。”

The new discovery could impact a common understanding between scientists that multicellular life needs oxygen to live on Earth.

這一新發(fā)現(xiàn)可能會影響科學(xué)家之間的共識，即多細胞生命需要氧氣才能在地球上生存。

Using deep sequencing approaches, the study found the H. salminicola has no mitochondrial DNA — normally containing the genes for respiration — which means the parasite “lost the ability to perform aerobic cellular respiration.”

利用深度測序的方法，研究發(fā)現(xiàn)H. salminicola沒有線粒體DNA——通常包含呼吸基因——這意味著這種寄生蟲“失去了進行有氧細胞呼吸的能力”。

It’s not clear how the H. salminicola survives without oxygen, but Huchon — who led the study — said it might be taking energy from the fish. He added that the parasite’s anaerobic traits were an accidental discovery.

目前尚不清楚鮭魚是如何在沒有氧氣的情況下存活下來的，但領(lǐng)導(dǎo)這項研究的胡川說，它可能是在從魚身上吸取能量。他補充說，這種寄生蟲的無氧特性是偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)的。

The parasite is a myxozoan relative of jellyfish and corals that reportedly causes disease or cysts in the flesh of its salmon host, but is harmless to humans.

這種寄生蟲是一種黏液動物，與水母和珊瑚有親緣關(guān)系。據(jù)報道，它們會導(dǎo)致宿主鮭魚的疾病或囊腫，但對人類無害。