Paraffinella Heslly Microscopic molecules of arsenic accumulate on its outer skin, which interacts with sulfide to form a microscopy of the yellow Orpime.Credit: Wang and others
The bright yellow worm that lives in the heat holes in the depths of the seas is the first known animal to create Orpiment, which is a wonderful but toxic metal used by artists from ancient times until the nineteenth century. Results1 It was published in Biology Plos this week.
Worm (Paraffinella HesllyIt is the only creature that inhabits the hottest part of the heat thermal openings in the depths of the seas in the Okinawa basin in the western Pacific. The hot water, which is released from the sea floor, contains high levels of toxic sulfide and arsenic.
The researchers found that the worm accumulates microscopic molecules of arsenic on external skin cells as well as along its inner organs. This interacts with sulfide from the aquatic thermal vent to form small groups of Orpiment, with a microscopic shield model around the worm that protects it from the toxic environment.
Orpiment is the normal mineral of the arsenic sulfide, and is often found in the sediment of thermal thermal and magic.
The results came as a surprise to the research group. In the depths of the sea, creatures live in complete darkness and are usually gray white or decorated with colors of orange to dark red, says co -author Haw Wang, biologist in the depths of the seas at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao. “It is not logical to make the pigment in complete darkness,” says Wang.
An unknown mechanism
The team has not yet discovered how to transfer arsenic to the internal organs of the creature.