Koala ‘Detox Kit’ Key to Survival on Eucalyptus
“Koalas
are at risk of destroying their own habitat because they have a unique detox
kit
which allows them to eat poisonous eucalyptus.
Scientists have found that the marsupials are able to specialize in
eating the poisonous
plant because they have large numbers of genes
active in the liver devoted to
detoxification.
This
had long given them the advantage of eating the plant which is avoided by their
Competitors, but it has also left them
vulnerable to the loss of their forest habitat.
The
discovery was made by a team of 54 researchers who put together a complete
genetic blueprint & sequenced more than 3.4
billion ‘letters’ making up the koala genetic
code.
The key
discovery, published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Genetics, showed
that koala genes produce a range of cytochrome
P450 enzymes that break down
poisonous compounds.”
London Daily Telegraph
In The Montreal Gazette
July 4/2018
No comments:
Post a Comment