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octopus are known to be brain — they can mimic flounder in a flash , unscrew themselves out of a seal jar and even use coconut shells to build a mobile home . And now , for the first time , scientists have sequenced the genome of the eight - legged rock star , revealing how its complex dome evolved .
ascertain how octopuses ' genius and body evolved " represents a first step to infer these really coolheaded fauna at a newfangled level , " said Caroline Albertin , the lead researcher on the subject area and a alum educatee analyze evolution of animal development at the University of Chicago . " have the genome represents having a prick outfit that the animal draw on as it builds [ its ] really remarkable eubstance and develops all these , really , very coolheaded , behaviors , " Albertin said .
A juvenile California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) grasps onto the walls of her aquarium with her sucker-lined arms.
Octopuses ' clever behaviorsare mirror by their oddball nervous systems — not to mention their three hearts .
" The octopusnervous systemis organized in a totally dissimilar direction from ours : The key brain surround the esophagus , which is typical of invertebrates , but it also has groups of neurons in the arms that can crop comparatively autonomously , plus vast optic lobes involve in vision , " subject co - author Daniel Rokhsar , a professor of genetic science and genomics at the University of California , Berkeley , said in a statement . " The sequencing was an opportunity to front at the genome and see what we can learn about the unique brain and word structure of the devilfish . "
With forward-looking technology — different from that used for theHuman Genome Project , which was an international campaign completed in 2003 to sequence human DNA and map all the genes of the speciesHomo sapiens — the researchers gather and issue the first genome of a cephalopodan , the group that include octopuses , calamary and cuttlefish .
What gain an devilfish an devilfish
The researchers chose to sequence the genome of the California two - place octopus ( Octopus bimaculoides ) , a hearty devilfish that is crowing , but diminished enough to live in an indoor aquarium , Albertin say . This octopus species produces " really gorgeous , transparent eggs that brood and embark on behaving immediately like an devilfish , " Albertin told Live Science . [ See Photos of the California Two - Spot Octopus ]
Baby octopuses and adult octopuses can walk along the seafloor on their arm , using their raw suckers to feel out their elbow room , anddon’t have to plow their bodies to change guidance . One branch can push off a surface and squeeze it where it require to go .
This species has a lot of feature that are common among cephalopods , such ascameralike eyesand dead body specializations likeeight armswith 100 of sucker on them , Yan Wang , a Colorado - author of the study and a graduate educatee at the University of Chicago , tell Live Science .
The researchers were surprised to discover that the octopus genome looks a lot like that of any other mollusk ( admit clams and snails ) . Even so , there were some thoroughgoing difference between the genomes of octopus and those of other invertebrate , include an expanding upon of a group of cistron link up to brain ontogeny and once thought to be unequalled to vertebrates .
The researchers also identified hundred of cephalopod - specific genes that expressed specialized feature film of the octopus , including its sleek , almost - diaphanous skin and many sucker . The research worker even think they ’ve spotted the factor take in adaptive coloration , in which an octopus can rapidly alter its skin vividness and grain to blend in with its milieu .
" We ’ve found hundreds of new cistron that do n’t have counterpart in other animals and may be involved in this unequaled disguise physical process , " Rokhsar said in the statement .
Further analysis of the genome could reveal more devilfish secrets , the researchers tell . For example , they hope to discover the genes responsible for the animals ' ability to renew limbs , as well as those for the propulsion system that permit them jet around underwater and their greedy arms that can feel and clasp . And what ’s responsible for the three fondness pumping blood line across their gills ?
The determination were write online yesterday ( August 12 ) in the journalNature .
