New research has found an important molecular analogy that can explain the extraordinary wisdom of these fascinating invertebrates. A special organism with extremely complex brain and cognitive abilities makes octopus very unique among invertebrates. So much so that it is more similar to vertebrates than invertebrates in several ways.
The neural and cognitive complexity of these animals may be due to similar molecules to the human brain, as found in a recent research paper published in BMC Biology.
It is understood that this study shows that the same "jump gene" is very active in the human brain and in the brains of both species, the two species are common octopus Octopus vulgaris and the California octopus Octopus biMaculoides. This discovery can help people understand the secrets of wisdom of these outstanding organisms.
As early as 2001, human genome sequencing showed that more than 45% of the genome is composed of sequences called transposon , the so-called "jump gene", which can "move" from one point in the individual genome to another point and shuffle or copy through molecular copy and paste or cut and paste mechanisms.
In most cases, these moving elements remain silent: they have no obvious effect and have lost the ability to move. Some are inactive because after generations of efforts, they have accumulated mutations; others are intact but blocked by cellular defense mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, even these fragments and broken copies of transposons are still useful as "raw materials" that evolution can engrave.
Among these moving elements, the most relevant are those belonging to the LINE family (Long Spacer Nuclear Elements) that have been found in the human genome for 100 copies and still have potential activity. Traditionally, LINE's activities are considered to be just a relic of the past, a remnant of the evolutionary process involving these moving elements, but new evidence has emerged in recent years suggests that their activities are finely regulated in the brain. Many scientists believe that LINE transposons are related to cognitive abilities such as learning and memory: they are particularly active in hippocampus , the most important structure in our brain for neural control of the learning process.
The genome of octopus is as rich as we do with "jumping genes", most of which are inactive. The researchers focused on transposons that can still be copied and pasted, and they discovered an element of the LINE family in the part of the brain that is crucial to the cognitive abilities of these animals.
Researcher Remo Sanges pointed out that he started working on the project when he was a researcher at Stazione Zoology Anton Dohrn of , Naples, and found that a LINE family element active in the brains of two octopus species is very important because it supports the idea that these elements have specific functions beyond copy and paste.
"When I saw a very strong signal of the activity of this element in the vertical leaves under a microscope, I literally jumped to the chair, the vertical leaves are the brain structure of the octopus and the location of learning and cognitive abilities, just like the hippocampus of the humans," researcher Giovanna Ponte told reporters.
According to Giuseppe Petrosino of the Anton Dohrn Institute of Animal Research and Stefano Gustincich of the Italian Institute of Technology--"This similarity between humans and octopus shows the activity of the LINE element at the location of cognitive abilities, which can be interpreted as a fascinating example of the convergent evolution of , for which the same molecular processes develop independently in response to similar needs in two genetically distant species."
"The brain of the octopus has many similarities in function to the mammalian brain," Graziano, director of the Department of Biology and Evolution at the Anton Dohrn Center of Animal Research Marine Biology and Evolution "For this reason, the already identified LINE element also represents a very interesting candidate, which can be studied to improve our awareness of intellectual evolution," Fiorito said.
