Haemoglobin was 'invented' by a single gene, says research

 

Scientists now want to change scale and continue this work by studying when and how the different specialised cells of bilaterian vascular systems emerged.

Paris (France): During a new study scientist have shown that while haemoglobin appeared independently in several species, it actually descends from a single gene transmitted to all by their last common ancestor.
The research which was conducted by scientists from CNRS, Universite de Paris and Sorbonne Universite, in association with others at the University of Saint Petersburg and the University of Rio de Janeiro, have shown that while haemoglobin appeared independently in several species, it actually descends from a single gene transmitted to all by their last common ancestor. These findings were published in BMC Evolutionary Biology.

Having red blood is not peculiar to humans or mammals. This colour comes from haemoglobin, a complex protein specialized in transporting the oxygen found in the circulatory system of vertebrates, but also in annelids (a worm family whose most famous members are earthworms), molluscs (especially pond snails) and crustaceans (such as daphnia or 'water fleas'). It was thought that for haemoglobin to have appeared in such diverse species, it must have been 'invented' several times during evolution. But recent research has shown that all of these haemoglobins born 'independently' actually derive from a single ancestral gene.

Researchers from the Institute Jacques Monod (CNRS/Universite de Paris), the Laboratoire Matiere et Systems Complexes (CNRS/Universite de Paris), the Station Biologique de Roscoff (CNRS/Sorbonne Universite), the Universities of Saint Petersburg (Russia) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), conducted this research on Platynereis dumerilii, a small marine worm with red blood.