这可能就是为什么“恶魔蠕虫”可以生活在其他动物无法生存的地方

这可能就是为什么“恶魔蠕虫”可以生活在其他动物无法生存的地方

When it comes to creatures that have been sharing this planet with us for millennia, this tiny worm is probably the devil you don’t know.

当谈到与我们共享这个星球数千年的生物时，这种小虫子可能是你不认识的魔鬼。

Halicephalobus mephisto, aka the devil worm, magnified 200 times. (Photo: Prof. John Bracht, American University)

That’s because the aptly named "devil worm" haunts places that are difficult, if not downright impossible, for other animal life to exist.

这是因为这种被恰当地命名为“恶魔蠕虫”的生物经常出没于其他动物难以生存的地方，如果不是完全不可能的话。

In fact, the first of its kind wasn’t discovered until 2008 — about a mile down a South African gold mine. The critter, which is a kind of nematode or roundworm, was immediately hailed as the deepest-living animal ever found. And that’s a record the devil worm is likely to keep.

事实上，直到2008年，在南非金矿地下一英里处才发现了第一个这样的金矿。这种小生物是一种线虫或蛔虫，被誉为迄今为止发现的最长寿的动物。这是魔鬼蠕虫保持的记录。

After all, who else can eke out an existence amid the intense heat and squelching pressure of such depths?

毕竟，在这么深的地方，还有谁能在这样的高温和高压下生存呢?

The devil worm — scientists dubbed it Halicephalobus mephisto, after the Faustian demon who presided over hell.

恶魔蠕虫——科学家称它为Halicephalobus mephisto，以掌管地狱的浮士德恶魔命名。

Eventually, scientists did pry loose a few of the devil worm’s secrets. For instance, to keep its svelte half-millimeter figure, it nibbles happily on bacteria. And, since it’s likely been squirming far below our feet for thousands of years, the creature has had plenty of time to evolve into its niche habitat.

最终，科学家们揭开了恶魔蠕虫的一些秘密。例如，为了保持它苗条的半毫米身材，它喜欢啃细菌。而且，由于它可能已经在我们脚下蠕动了数千年，这种生物有足够的时间进化到它的生态位栖息地。

But what about its strange superpower — the ability to withstand the infernal heat and impossible pressures of its own private underworld? To find a clue, scientists had to probe much deeper. In fact, scientists at American University just gave the devil worm another title: the first subterrestrial animal ever to have its genome sequenced.

但它那奇怪的超能力——能承受地狱般的高温和来自地下世界的不可思议的压力——又如何呢?为了找到一条线索，科学家们不得不进行更深入的探索。事实上，美国大学的科学家们刚刚给这种恶魔蠕虫起了另一个名字:有史以来第一个基因组测序的亚陆类动物。

The research, published this month in the journal Nature Communications, reveals a creature that’s packing a remarkable amount of Hsp70.

这项研究发表在本月的《自然通讯》杂志上，揭示了一种携带大量Hsp70的生物。

Known as "heat-shock" protein, Hsp70 is found in much smaller amounts in pretty much all life forms. Its job is to repair cells that are damaged from heat. And while other nematodes have Hsp70, H. mephisto boasts it in spades.

被称为“热休克”蛋白的Hsp70在几乎所有的生命形式中含量都要少得多。它的工作是修复被热损坏的细胞。当其他线虫有Hsp70时，H. mephisto却吹嘘自己有Hsp70。

The sequencing revealed the worm’s Hsp70 genes were copies of themselves, essentially giving it duplicates and triplicates and quadri — err, you get the idea — until it could endure even the most hellish of habitats.

测序结果显示，这种蠕虫的Hsp70基因是自身的拷贝，本质上给了它重复、三次和四次的机会——呃，你懂的——直到它能忍受最可怕的栖息地。

The worm is also packing spare copies of a gene called AIG1, which is linked to cellular survival in plants and animals.

这种蠕虫还携带了一种名为AIG1的基因的备用副本，这种基因与植物和动物的细胞生存有关。

“The Devil Worm can't run away; it's underground,” Bracht explains in a press release. “It has no choice but to adapt or die. We propose that when an animal cannot escape intense heat, it starts making additional copies of these two genes to survive.”

“魔鬼虫跑不掉;它在地下，”Bracht在一份新闻稿中解释道。“它别无选择，要么适应，要么死亡。我们认为，当动物无法逃脱高温时，它就会开始复制这两种基因来生存。”

Those genes suggest the devil worm took a long evolutionary road to get to the point where it can make a kind of hell its home. And just maybe it can teach us a thing or two about how to live with a devil we do know: climate change.

这些基因表明，这种恶魔蠕虫经历了漫长的进化过程，才达到了可以把地狱当成家的地步。也许它能教会我们一两件事，如何与我们熟知的恶魔——气候变化——共存。

We may look to the humble nematode, a creature with an incredible knack for rolling with environmental change. Perhaps we may even replicate its genetic hazmat suit, replete with all those insulating Hsp70 proteins.

我们可以看看不起眼的线虫，一种有着令人难以置信的适应环境变化的本领的生物。也许我们甚至可以复制它的基因防护服，里面充满了那些绝缘的Hsp70蛋白。

“[Nematodes] have a reputation as some of the toughest multicellular life forms that have colonized the most inhospitable habitats,” Andreas Teske, a professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, who was not involved with the new study, tells Discover Magazine. “They have colonized every hidden corner of the planet where the most basic requirements are met — oxygen, water, bacteria as food.”

北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校教授安德烈亚斯·特斯克没有参与这项新研究，他在接受《发现》杂志采访时表示:“(线虫)被认为是最顽强的多细胞生物，它们占据了最不适宜生存的栖息地。”“他们已经在地球上每一个最基本的需求——氧气、水、作为食物的细菌——得到满足的隐秘角落里开拓了殖民地。”

And maybe H. mephisto surfaced just in time for us to steal a page from its genetic playbook.

也许H. mephisto出现得正是时候，我们从它的基因剧本中偷取了一页。