Scientists think they have found the reason why octopuses commit suicide after mating.
Octopuses have a somewhat strange behavior, although they also stand out in their amazing intelligence and abilities that are even called “supernatural”. They are wonderful, they can change color and even restore their limbs. But after all, octopuses are dying seriously and researchers have finally been able to solve the causes.
Apparently octopuses, their strange nature sends them to be orphaned from an early age. Honestly, they don’t see their mother. After a mother octopus lays eggs, she stops eating and is exhausted; by the time the eggs hatch, she is dead. And if that’s not enough, a few months later the father also died.
Some female captives seem to intentionally speed up this process, cutting and twisting his arms, explains a press release.
After a mother octopus lays eggs, she stops eating and is exhausted.
The short life and tragic end of these creatures have caught the attention of researchers. What has now been found are several biochemical pathways critical to the synthesis of certain sterol hormones after reproduction. The main ingredient here is cholesterolwhile the change occurs suddenly, it causes noticeable changes in the steroid hormones produced.
Researchers recently discovered that the association appears to alter several critical cholesterol-based biochemical pathways to different hormones in octopus females.
The risks of large changes in cholesterol metabolism in other animals, including humans, are not a mystery. Knowing that they can have serious consequences on longevity and behavior. The team of scientists behind this study believes it shows important similarities in the functions of these steroids throughout the animal kingdom, both in soft-bodied cephalopods and in vertebrates. .
After sexual act, these animals begin a process of self -destruction that leads to death, something that has intrigued researchers for decades.
“We know that cholesterol is important from a dietary perspective, and also within various signaling systems in the body,” Z. Yan Wang, PhD, assistant professor of psychology and biology at the University of Washington and leading author of the study. “It involves everything from the flexibility of cell membranes to the production of stress hormones.but it is a big surprise to see that it also plays a role in the life cycle process. ”
What drives the mother octopus to destroy itself is the optic gland, an organ similar to the pituitary gland in mammals.. In 1977 it was suspected that it was somehow related to the strange death of the octopus. By 2018, scientists have adjusted the optic gland RNA transcriptome of several California two-spot octopuses (Octopus bimaculoides) at various stages of their maternal decline.
The recent paper is a step up from the aforementioned studies, in which they looked at chemicals produced by the octopus ’maternal optic gland. The findings suggest that disruption of the cholesterol -making process in octopuses has serious consequences, as in other animals.
So far, scientists say they have discovered another step in the order of self-destruct of octopuses, indicating more changes downstream that will eventually lead to the mother’s trick and its loss.
“The amazing thing is they go through developmental changes where they seem to go crazy before they die,” said Clifton Ragsdale, PhD, Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Chicago. “It could be two processes, it could be three or four. Now, we have at least three seemingly independent pathways of steroid hormones that could explain the many effects these animals are showing,” he said.
Source: Clarin
