The Mediterranean discovers three animal species that do not need oxygen

2010/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biokimika
• Zoologia

Researchers from the Universidad Politécnica Marche of Italy have discovered three animal species that seem to give their entire life cycle in environments without oxygen. The research has been carried out in the anoxic hypersaline basin L'Atalante of the Mediterranean Sea, 3,000 meters deep, and the animals found belong to the Loricifera filum, of size less than one millimeter.

Animals have already been found in environments without oxygen, but in these conditions only cycles of life were given. The present, for their part, give their whole life. In addition, researchers have discovered an adaptation that facilitates them to grow in these conditions. Specifically, they have seen that they use organelles called hydrogenosomas instead of mitochondria to form ATP.