Wednesday, November 9, 2011

An animal can live without oxygen??

YES! A group of sea life researchers from Italy and Denmark found a multicellular animal can life without inhaling oxygen.

The group's researchers found three species of Loricifera (looked like jellyfish in less than a millimeter length) in the basin L'Atalante sediment,there is a salt water areas that not oxygenated at 3000 meters depth, the Mediterranean seabed, or the middle of the ocean.




When Antonio Pusceddu, researchers from the Marche Polytechnic University, Italy, and colleagues found Loricifera, they estimate that the animal fell into the sea floor after the animal died.

"We think it is unlikely they could live there," said Pusceddu, as quoted from Discovermagazine. However, from experiments performed on two subsequent expeditions, it is known that the animal was found alive.

Pusceddu mention, Loricifera has a unique way of adaptation to oxygen-free environment.




These animals do not have mitochondria (the cell that is able to convert oxygen into energy as in all other animal cells). However, they use a structure that resembles hydrogenosom, the organ that uses microbes to produce energy.

Interestingly, this finding opens the possibility of a more complex animal life in the harsh oxygen-free environment. Whether on Earth or in other places.


source: http://www.apakabardunia.com/post/sains/loricifera-hewan-yang-dapat-hidup-tanpa-oksigen

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