The temperature-controlled moon fish
The temperature-controlled moon fish
The Innovation This research work has won the original innovation project of the Basic Frontier Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences "From 0 to 1", the Southern Ocean Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) talent team introduced a major special project, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Science and Technology Fundamental Resources Joint funding for investigation projects
The "warm fish" that rewrites the textbook
The "warm fish" that rewrites the textbook Stable body temperature is an important physiological basis for warm-blooded animals to adapt to complex and changeable environments
Unlike other "local temperature" fish that only heat up in the core part of the body or around the eyes, moonfish is the only known "full-body temperature" fish species, which rewrites the traditional perception that fish are all temperature-changing animals
"The body temperature of the moonfish can be about 5°C higher than the temperature of the surrounding seawater
Moonfish has a bright red flesh and enjoys the reputation of being a "steak" in the sea, and is regarded as a delicacy by diners
It uses muscle contraction to produce a large amount of heat by constantly flapping its pectoral fins, and there is a countercurrent heat exchange vascular network in its gills to slow down the heat loss when blood flows through the gills.
"The evolution of constant temperature in vertebrates provides a window for us to further understand the environmental adaptation mechanism of animals
Reveal the secret of the moonfish's constant temperature
Reveal the secret of the moonfish's constant temperature The researchers assembled the moonfish genome at the chromosome level and found that its genome has a high content of transposable elements, and its long terminal repeat (LTR) content is the highest among fishes reported so far.
Constant temperature has evolved independently in vertebrates many times, which is a typical trait of convergent evolution
In addition, the researchers found that genes related to heme synthesis and electron transport chain activity have a faster evolution rate in constant temperature species
The study also found that a number of genes related to muscle development, contraction, and the formation of the countercurrent heat exchange vascular system (such as troponin, vascular endothelin robo4, etc.
Moonfish is one of the fish with the highest proportion of red muscle weight, and the developed red muscle at the base of its pectoral fin is the main heat-producing tissue
"We look forward to using this research as a starting point to participate in and witness more new progress in the evolution of constant temperature traits and the evolution of biological adaptation in the future
Related paper information: https://doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
xinn.
2021.
100185
https://doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
xinn.
2021.
100185
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