A Curious Mutation Is Letting Earth's Deep-Sea Creatures Survive the Abyss
A new study analyzes the evolutionary history of 11 deep-sea species from environments stretching from the central Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean and found that all species contained the convergent evolution of the rtf1 gene, which improves transcription efficiency at higher pressures.
Although other evolutionary changes also aid in these species' deep-sea survival, this universal adaptation shows that nature uses similar evolutionary solution when faced with overwhelming environmental challenges.
Life isn't easy in the hadal zone. The deepest region of the world's oceans—stretching more than 6,000 meters (19,700 feet) below the surface—the zone is home to pressures up to 1,100 times stronger than Earth's atmosphere at sea level. Despite this extreme pressure—not to mention bone-chilling temperatures, low-oxygen levels, and absolute darkness—life thrives in these ultra-deep trenches, fractures, and vents, and a new study published in the journal Cell investigates how nature pulled off this incredible feat.
In this new study, scientists from Chinese Academy of Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, and BGI-Qingdao (a gene research institute) explored deep-sea fish habitats from the central Indian Ocean and the western Pacific, including the deepest point on the planet's surface, the Mariana Trench, using a variety of research vessels and piloted submersibles. From these habitats, the researchers reconstructed the evolutionary history of six major animal groups across 11 species, which included snailfish, tripodfish, cusk-eels, and lizardfish. While some species came from the hadal zone, this study also included specimens found all the way up to 1,218 meters (nearly 4,000 feet), which is still considered 'deep sea' by definition.
This process identified two main 'pathways' for deep-sea fish evolution that largely supported a century-old hypothesis that attempted to answer how animals evolved to live in these seemingly inhospitable environments. The first pathway, which the researchers call the 'ancient survivors,' relates to species that have called these dark depths home for dozens or maybe even hundreds of millions of years. These organisms specifically navigated these pitch-dark waters before the end-Cretaceous mass extinction event some 66 million years ago. However, the 'new immigrants' are species that are recent arrivals (at least geologically speaking), having arrived in the hadal zone after the extinction of all land-based dinosaurs.
However, across these different animal groups, species, and pathways, the researchers noticed that all specimens containing a highly conserved mutation impacted the rtf1 gene if the fish lived below 3,000 meters (nearly 10,000 feet). They found that this gene affects transcription efficiency specifically in high pressure environments and is likely the genetic mechanism for adapting to the crushing pressures found at these depths. This is an example of convergent evolution where separate species develop similar evolutionary changes despite not having a recent common ancestor.
They also found that invertebrates were much more likely to survive in deeper ocean depths for two main reasons.
'First, as top predators, vertebrates require specific ecological conditions, including sufficient prey populations,' the authors write. 'Second, vertebrates may face significant challenges from the high pressure and darkness of the deep sea, possibly due to the sensitivity of their complex central nervous system.'
The authors note that while they've found convergent evolutionary explanations for the deep-sea survival of these species, it's likely that a variety of other genetic changes additionally aid in these creatures' ability to survive the impossible. The team also detected traces of a anthropogenic pollutants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and believe future studies should analyze how this pollution could impact these incredible animals already surviving against all odds.
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