UVI-Many animals that changed her life as part of the mechanism. As a caterpillar becomes a butterfly and tadpole into a frog. If we do not understand it, maybe we never thought that it was the same creature in two different forms.
But not so happens to Mesodinium chamaeleon. This single-celled organism is a mixture of animals and plants.
M. chamaeleon is a cilia, or single-celled animal that has thousands of "hair" small. This species is found by Ojvind Moestrup of University of Copenhagen in the Gulf Niva, Denmark along with his team. Other examples have been found since there are Finnish and Rhode Island Coast.
Cilia use the hair to move quickly in water. Most cilia get their food by eating other organisms, rather than by synthesizing nutrients themselves. This marks them are like animals.
Several different species Mesodinium, ie cryptomonads, which ingest other microorganisms, which generally algae. Two forms are inter-species cooperation, algae produce sugars by photosynthesis, while Mesodinium protect them and bring them to move.
This hybrid is an organism of animals and plants simultaneously. One such species Mesodinium rubrum, only eat red algae and is often found in the form of algae blooms that make up the formation of red tides (red wave).
These hybrids are difficult to classify. "Unveiling the difference between plants and animals completely collapse (at Mesodinium)," said Øjvind Moestrup, a biologist from Denmark.
According Moestrup many microorganisms that may be the animals and plants together, or change into one of them, as occurs in M. rubrum.
But M. chamaeleon this makes it increasingly collapsed bulkhead. Since this is a genuine blend of animals with plant hybrids.
M. chamaeleon take a cell of algae, such as M. rubrum. But they did not save them permanently. Also do not digest quickly, such as hungry animals or organisms.
In contrast, the cells remained intact for several weeks before it becomes damaged, as long as they continue to produce sugar by photosynthesis. M. chamaeleon also change color depending on whether the red or green algae have it, or both. Because of that ability is called chamaeleon Mesodinium or chameleon.
"It's very unusual," said Moestrup. Mesodinium other species are better at maintaining cells taken according to age or ingest them with immediately.
Endosymbiosis is a mention of the ability to take in another cell algae and put them to work. And this is one of the most important discoveries in the history of life.
About 2 billion years ago, a single ingestion of a bacterial cell and use it as an energy source. "Descendants" bacteria that eventually became mitochondria and binding complete cells, including humans. Without endosymbiosis, there will be no multi-cell life.
Although the first endosymbiosis may be a fortune, but now the process seems to be commonplace, at least among single-celled organism that is more complex. "It happens regularly," said Moestrup.
M. chamaeleon may offer an idea of how the endosymbiosis developed. The organism is still running with ease of consuming other cells to maintain their lives with himself. | Newscientist
