A menage of " jumping cistron " , which hop through the human genome by cut back - and - glue themselves into various different areas , have also been discovered in two octopus genomes , where they may have some gravely important functions . The genes were previously thought to have no function , but the discovery highlights this may be totally faux , and they could instead play an significant function in theoctopus mental capacity .
The research was published inBMC Biology .
" jump factor " , also ring transposons , are strings of genetic information that apply their own machinery to take themselves from their current positions and insert themselves into a different position in the genome .
These transposons make up almost half ( 45 percent ) of the human genome , and come in many different forms – long interspersed nuclear elements ( LINEs ) , light interspersed atomic elements ( sine ) , and many more . Scientists use jumping genes called Alu component to hunt our evolutionary history , but jumping gene were thought to be just that : remnants of the past with no discernible social occasion in our mod genome .
That may be about to change , however .
LINEs are heavy regulated in the brain , which make sense as you could not have transposons sneaking themselves into important genes and disrupting their function . Some scientist trust they may dally a role in knowledge due to their increased activity in the hippocampus , which is involved in learning processes . But , with our still - limited understanding of the human brain , this has been hard to avow .
Much like in humans , an octopus genome is packed full of transposon , making it an ideal model for understanding them in humans .
In late enquiry from Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn and Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati ( SISSA ) , scientists have identified pregnant activity of a transmissible component from the LINE family unit within a key region of the brain of two devilfish species : Octopus vulgarisandOctopus bimaculoides .
This suggest it may have an authoritative function in noesis , but also suggest LINEs within the head may be a result of convergent evolution , meaning that despite mankind and octopus not sharing a common ascendent , both species evolved these transmitted elements within the head to perform similar labor .
“ The uncovering of an constituent of the LINE house , active in the mental capacity of the two octopus specie , is very significant because it supply support to the theme that these elements have a specific occasion that goes beyond copy - and - paste , ” say Remo Sanges , director of the Computational Genomics laboratory at SISSA , in astatement .
“ I literally jumped on the chairman when , under the microscope , I saw a very hard signaling of activity of this factor in the erect lobe , the construction of the brain which in the octopus is the rear end of learning and cognitive ability , just like the hippocampus in humans , ” go on Giovanna Ponte from Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn .
The research is foretell but does not yet tell us that LINEs are directly involved in knowledge .
Scientists now know that they are active in areas involved in such tasks , as well as being present in two decided evolutionary paths , but it is still potential that they are but doing playfulness transposon thing in these realm and not actually functionally active .
The squad now hop to dig further into these LINEs within the devilfish , as it is correspondent to many other brain in the animal realm , to illuminate their true ( if any ) functions .
