The parasite did not have mitochondrial genome and therefore, did not perform aerobic respiration, according to researchers
Scientists at Tel Aviv University (TAU) have accidentally discovered a parasite that does not breathe in oxygen.
Most animals breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide through a chemical process called aerobic respiration. This is how they get energy to perform essential functions needed for survival.
According to the findings, published in PNAS on February 25, the parasite Henneguya salminicola lived in salmon muscle. It had a body of only 10 cells. The discovery has challenged the assumptions about the animal world, according to researchers.
The parasite lived in a salmon muscle. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
As it evolved, the animal, which is a myxozoan relative of jellyfish and corals, did not consume oxygen to produce energy. Myxozoans is a class of aquatic, parasitic animals.
As part of a research project, the genome of H Salminicola was sequenced along with those of other myxozoan fish parasites. Researchers were surprised to find that it did not have a mitochondrial genome and, therefore, lost the ability to perform aerobic cellular respiration.
Mitochondria, called powerhouse of the cell, captures oxygen to produce energy.
ScienceDaily quoted Dorothee Huchon, author of the paper, as saying:
Aerobic respiration was thought to be ubiquitous in animals, but now we confirmed that this is not the case. 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.
However, scientists are yet to understand how the animal produced energy.
“It’s not yet clear to us how the parasite generates energy,” Huchon said. “It may be drawing it from the surrounding fish cells, or it may have a different type of respiration such as oxygen-free breathing, which typically characterises anaerobic non-animal organisms.”
According to researchers, some single-celled organisms, including fungi and amoebas, have also lost the need to breathe over time. However, this is the first time the process has been documented in an animal, ScienceDaily quoted a researcher as saying.
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