Octopuses reprogram their brains to survive extreme conditions

Octopuses, squids and cuttlefish can reprogram their RNA on the fly, editing it and changing the proteins in their nerve cells. This allows them to adapt quickly to changes in their environment, including drastic fluctuations in temperature. Scientists believe this ability could be widespread in cephalopods around the world.

RNA transcoding gives organisms the ability to express a variety of proteins when and where they choose. In cephalopods, most of the recoding is for proteins that are really important to the functioning of the nervous system. So the natural question is, do they use this to adapt to changes in their physical environment?

Marine biologist Joshua Rosenthal of the University of Chicago’s Marine Biology Laboratory says we usually think our genetic information is fixed, but the environment can affect how you code proteins, and in cephalopods this happens on a huge scale.

How does this work?

DNA does not directly produce proteins. These chemically encoded instructions remain in the cell nucleus, issuing patterns through an intermediate molecule called matrix RNA (or mRNA), which travels from the nucleus to the surrounding mucus to feed the tiny protein-building machines.

In cephalopods, things are a little different. In 2015, scientists discovered that squid, cuttlefish and octopus can modify RNA after it has left the nucleus, editing it “on the fly,” allowing them to respond quickly to environmental changes.

Adaptation to temporary environmental changes seemed a plausible explanation. Marine organisms are exposed to a wide range of temperatures, and octopuses lack the ability to actively thermoregulate. RNA editing would provide the opportunity to change and change again as conditions dictate, without the long-term implementation and relative permanence of DNA editing.

Research

Led by marine biologist Matthew Birk of the Marine Biological Laboratory and St. Francis University, a team of researchers tested this assumption. Their subjects were California two-pointed octopus (Octopus bimaculoides), whose genome was first sequenced in 2005, making this animal useful for understanding genetic variation.

Scientists have found that octopuses can recode their RNA on the fly, changing the proteins in their nerve cells. This allows them to adapt quickly to changes in their environment, including drastic fluctuations in temperature.

This is an unusual strategy, but it seems effective, and scientists believe it could be widespread throughout the cephalopod world.

Conclusion

Octopuses, squids and cuttlefish can reprogram their RNA on the fly, editing it and altering the proteins in their nerve cells. This allows them to quickly adapt to changes in their environment, including drastic fluctuations in temperature. Scientists believe this ability may be widespread in cephalopods around the world. This opens up new possibilities for studying genetic changes and adaptation to extreme conditions.

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