Researchers from the Tel Aviv University (TAU) and University of Kansas, have discovered a tiny parasite of salmon called Henneguya salminicola which has no mitochondrial genome and thus has lost the ability to perform aerobic respiration.
Facts
- The organism is a fewer-than-10-celled microscopic parasite that lives in salmon muscle.
- With evolution this organism gave up breathing and stopped the consumption of oxygen for the production of energy — which means it relies on anaerobic respiration (through which cells extract energy without using oxygen).
- This discovery means that organisms belonging to the animal kingdom could survive in anaerobic environments.
- The assumption that all animals are breathing oxygen was based, among other things, on the fact that animals are multicellular, highly developed organisms, which first appeared on Earth when oxygen levels rose.
- The discovery is reported in a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
