Genome analysis reveals why koalas can eat leaves of toxic effluents

KOMPAS.com – Who would have thought behind the adorable face of koalas is actually a very strange little animal.

They sleep all day, eat the parents' droppings when the baby, and perhaps the most astonishing is this mammal marsupial eucalyptus leaf

In fact, as is known for a long time, the Eucalyptus leaves are toxic and dangerous leaves

It is certainly interesting and yet an unresolved mystery in the world of science.

Until finally a team of researchers led by Rebecca Johnson, a conservation geneticist at the Australian Museum in Sydney, successfully answered the puzzle.

To answer the puzzle, they sequenced the genome of the koala and found clues about the survival of the animal by eating eucalyptus leaves. In addition, the research team also observed how koalas can sniff out toxic leaves

"The best way to answer the question is to sort the genome of the animal. the best information to acquire when it comes to following and understanding the genetic diversity of a species, "said Johnson quoted from National Geographic Monday (02/07/2018).

Genetic Code

What this research team finds quite surprising.

The portion of the koala genome, which is a protein detoxification code, is about twice as large as that of other mammals.

Read also: The distant relatives of koalas and kangaroos It was found that the lions were Marsupial

This makes the toxins contained in the eucalyptus leaves quickly wasted and they can eat leaves every day without pain.

Researchers emit the hypothesis at some point in the past, the genome is duplicating and inadvertently multiplying.

The evolution encourages the genome to turn into a new form, making the koala detoxification system better and more effective at the discovery cleanse the various toxic molecules of eucalyptus

As we know it koalas spend their time on the fibrous eucalyptus

while the leaves of the plant become the main food, filled with toxic molecules. This makes the plant can not be eaten by any other living creature.

It's just that leaves contain fewer calories, so koalas spend 22 hours to rest or sleep.

Sniff

For years, researchers have been looking at koalas sniffing leaves and wondering why they only choose to eat leaves and shed other leaves.

Researchers suspect that koalas are able to taste whether it is toxic or nutritious on odor.

Indeed, in the genome that produces kalaal olfactory organs.

The researchers found a lot of extra genes that can help koalas to feel the delicate aroma that distinguishes it from eucalyptus. 19659002] The Fruit of Simalakama

Koalas are really good at getting rid of toxic plant molecules, a system that gets rid of poison is also very fast. In fact, much faster than humans.

Unfortunately, this ability eventually became the simultaneous fruit of this species

As we know, the number of koalas in most of Australia has declined considerably in recent decades. ] Not only because the eucalyptus forest that they inhabit has been lost much, but also the devastating diseases also attack the koalas

Yes, these marsupial animals are indeed very susceptible to certain diseases like the chlamydia.

Factors Affecting the Age of Mammalian Life

Antibiotics used to treat certain diseases such as chlamydia do not help much for koalas

It is definitely difficult for veterinarians and scientists to treat koala diseases

. he has spent years trying to develop a vaccine that can prevent koalas from developing chlamydia. "But there is no need for us to do enough on their immune system," said Willa Huston, a microbiologist at the University of Technology of Sydney (19659002), "and now we understand the thousands of genes involved in the immune response, and we can use the results and science to make the vaccine," he says.

Vulnerable Disease

In addition, koalas are vulnerable to retroviruses, similar to HIV that weakens their immune system. Retroviruses have repeatedly tried to enter the genetic code during the evolution of the koala and have lasted until now.

The result of koalas tested in Queensland revealed retroviruses and more destructive modern lineages in the region.

This study can help researchers trace the virus strain and provide basic researchers with the means to develop better vaccines.

In addition, this study may also help conservationists to find ways to keep the koala population

. "Koala conditions worsen in the face of new challenges," said Shannon Kjeldsen, geologist "By using genomes as a reference, biologists can follow what's happening in different koala colonies and better know how and when act, "he added.

Nature Genetics