The same gene "invented" hemoglobin

Thanks to the marine worm sandworm worm, an animal that has slowly evolved its genes, researchers at the French Centre for Scientific Research, the University of Paris and the Sorbonna University in Paris have found that although hemoglobin appears independently of several species, it is actually a descendant of a gene that is transmitted to all species by their last common ancestor. The paper appears in BMC Evolutionary Biology on December 29.
blood is not unique to humans or mammals. This color comes from hemoglobin, a complex protein designed to transport oxygen, which is found not only in vertebrates, but also in chain animals, molyts and crustaceans. It is thought that hemoglobin must have been "invented" several times during evolution in such a diverse species. But recent studies have shown that all of these "independent" born hemoglobin actually come from a single ancestral gene.
researchers analyzed the sandworm worm, which is thought to be a slow-evolving animal because its genetic characteristics are close to those of Urbilateria, the marine ancestor of most animals. Researchers say studying these worms by comparing them with other species with red blood could help trace the origin of hemoglobin.
study focused on a broad family of hemoglobin: globin, a protein found in almost all living things that "stores" gases such as oxygen and nitrogen monoxide. But globin usually works in cells because they don't circulate in the blood like hemoglobin does.
study showed that in all red blood species, it was the same gene that produced a bead protein called "cell hemoglobin", which independently evolved into a gene that encodes hemoglobin. This new circulating molecule makes oxygen transport more efficiently in their ancestors, who became longer and more active.
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