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It says that they don't have mitochondrial DNA anymore, and that they can survive in very low oxygen environments....but neither of those is the same as "not ne
by MostlyStable 2y ago
It says that they don't have mitochondrial DNA anymore, and that they can survive in very low oxygen environments....but neither of those is the same as "not needing oxygen". Parasites lose a lot of machinery that they use the host for (such as digestive tracts).
Not needing oxygen would mean a pretty dramatic shift in a whole lot of biochemistry. Maybe that's exactly what has happened, but from this article, it sounds more like they evolved to tolerate very low oxygen, and also they use the host for a lot of necessary functions (common in parasites) and so have lost some unnecessary complexity.
- WhitneyLand 2y agoNo, it addresses that point. Paragraph 7 acknowledges it. Needs no oxygen at all.
- cpncrunch 2y agoNo, that is referring to other organisms. It neglects to mention how this particular one survives.
- WhitneyLand 2y agoNo what? Paragraph 7 acknowledges what the parent comment mentioned, that other species use very little oxygen. The title says this one needs none. The 2nd paragraph says: “…it doesn't breathe; in fact, it lives its life completely free of oxygen dependency.” If that’s not enough, it’s also made clear in Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henneguya_zschokkei https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henneguya_zschokkei
- cpncrunch 2y agoYes indeed, other species, as per my comment, but it doesnt mention how this species does it.
- slantaclaus 2y agoPhenomena are discovered first, mechanisms later