How The Giant Isopods Got Supersized

Survival in the deep sea is inherently challenging: darkness abounds, the temperature is near-freezing, and food is hard to come by. And yet, rather than wither in the harsh conditions, many deep-sea animals, from giant spider crabs to giant squid, adapt by growing supersized, dwarfing their relatives in shallow water or on land. Why these animals get so big has intrigued scientists for more than a century. Now, asking a slightly different question – how do they get so big? – scientists are getting closer to an answer. A team of researchers recently sequenced the genome of the giant isopod Bathynomus jamesi – a first for a deep-sea crustacean. With round, chunky bodies, giant isopods look like policemen—only they can grow as long and heavy as a chihuahua. The team behind the work, led by Jianbo Yuan, a geneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, hopes that the details hidden in the animal’s genetic code will help us better understand what goes on behind the scenes, genetically speaking, with the deep sea ​​giantism. Analysis of the genes of Bathynomus jamesi hints at how this giant isopod developed the key adaptations that allow it to thrive in the deep. Photo by Jianbo Yuan and Xiaojun Zhang Giant isopods, or bathymoids, are the jumbo cousins ​​of the armored crustaceans found around under fallen logs. While the smallest species of isopods is less than half a centimeter in size, bathymoids can grow up to 80 times larger. The niches occupied by isopods are similarly varied: there are more than 10,000 known species, and they are found everywhere from the ocean floor to caves to mountaintops. This physiological and ecological diversity makes the isopod family tree the perfect place to look for clues about what drives adaptation below. Among the most intriguing questions, Yuan says, is whether today’s deep-sea giants simply descend from heavy ancestors—animals such as heartworms, large arthropod predators that existed about 50 million years ago—or whether they evolved more recently under the pressures of life in the deep sea. In the case of giant isopods, their genome points to the latter explanation. Like their bodies, bathunomid genomes are incredibly large. B. jamesi, the researchers found, has a large number of so-called jump genes, transposable elements that can move from one part of the isopod’s genetic code to another. Jumping genes are associated with high mutation rates, which researchers believe may make the isopod better equipped to deal with environmental stress. Having a large number of genes is something that B. jamesi shares with other deep-sea invertebrates. That invertebrates—organisms generally considered less complex than vertebrates—have evolved some of the most complex, adaptive genetic codes has baffled scientists since genome sequencing began. Beyond revealing the size of its genome, the scientists’ delve into the biology and genetics of B. jamesi also suggested possible explanations for a number of key adaptations the animals use to thrive in the deep. The stomach of B. jamesi, for example, can expand to take up two-thirds of its body. This ensures that when it can find food, it can gobble up as much as possible. Yuan and team also found in B. jamesi genes changes related to thyroid and insulin function, which likely enhance the isopod’s ability to grow and absorb nutrients. In addition, they found a tweak that slows down the breakdown of fat. Keeping extra trash in the trunk lets giant isopods go years without eating. Alexis Weinnig, a deep-sea biologist and geneticist at Leetown Research Laboratory in West Virginia, who was not involved in the study, says she likes that Yuan and his team are trying to better understand deep-sea isopods through their genes. Living in the deep sea, isopods are hard to find and harder to study in the field. “I think getting into basic genetics will play an important role in understanding the underlying causes of gigantism,” he says. Weinnig hopes the find reminds people that beyond their potential to help understand a scientific dilemma, deep-sea species deserve the spotlight. “We lose track of how incredible it is that these animals live on our planet,” says Weinnig. “They have to be resourceful at all levels … with reproduction, with metabolic processing. Everything must be used so that nothing is spoiled.”

title: “How The Giant Isopods Got Supersized Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-15” author: “James Jones”

Survival in the deep sea is inherently challenging: darkness abounds, the temperature is near-freezing, and food is hard to come by. And yet, rather than wither in the harsh conditions, many deep-sea animals, from giant spider crabs to giant squid, adapt by growing supersized, dwarfing their relatives in shallow water or on land. Why these animals get so big has intrigued scientists for more than a century. Now, asking a slightly different question – how do they get so big? – scientists are getting closer to an answer. A team of researchers recently sequenced the genome of the giant isopod Bathynomus jamesi – a first for a deep-sea crustacean. With round, chunky bodies, giant isopods look like policemen—only they can grow as long and heavy as a chihuahua. The team behind the work, led by Jianbo Yuan, a geneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, hopes that the details hidden in the animal’s genetic code will help us better understand what goes on behind the scenes, genetically speaking, with the deep sea ​​giantism. Analysis of the genes of Bathynomus jamesi hints at how this giant isopod developed the key adaptations that allow it to thrive in the deep. Photo by Jianbo Yuan and Xiaojun Zhang Giant isopods, or bathymoids, are the jumbo cousins ​​of the armored crustaceans found around under fallen logs. While the smallest species of isopods is less than half a centimeter in size, bathymoids can grow up to 80 times larger. The niches occupied by isopods are similarly varied: there are more than 10,000 known species, and they are found everywhere from the ocean floor to caves to mountaintops. This physiological and ecological diversity makes the isopod family tree the perfect place to look for clues about what drives adaptation below. Among the most intriguing questions, Yuan says, is whether today’s deep-sea giants simply descend from heavy ancestors—animals such as heartworms, large arthropod predators that existed about 50 million years ago—or whether they evolved more recently under the pressures of life in the deep sea. In the case of giant isopods, their genome points to the latter explanation. Like their bodies, bathunomid genomes are incredibly large. B. jamesi, the researchers found, has a large number of so-called jump genes, transposable elements that can move from one part of the isopod’s genetic code to another. Jumping genes are associated with high mutation rates, which researchers believe may make the isopod better equipped to deal with environmental stress. Having a large number of genes is something that B. jamesi shares with other deep-sea invertebrates. That invertebrates—organisms generally considered less complex than vertebrates—have evolved some of the most complex, adaptive genetic codes has baffled scientists since genome sequencing began. Beyond revealing the size of its genome, the scientists’ delve into the biology and genetics of B. jamesi also suggested possible explanations for a number of key adaptations the animals use to thrive in the deep. The stomach of B. jamesi, for example, can expand to take up two-thirds of its body. This ensures that when it can find food, it can gobble up as much as possible. Yuan and team also found in B. jamesi genes changes related to thyroid and insulin function, which likely enhance the isopod’s ability to grow and absorb nutrients. In addition, they found a tweak that slows down the breakdown of fat. Keeping extra trash in the trunk lets giant isopods go years without eating. Alexis Weinnig, a deep-sea biologist and geneticist at Leetown Research Laboratory in West Virginia, who was not involved in the study, says she likes that Yuan and his team are trying to better understand deep-sea isopods through their genes. Living in the deep sea, isopods are hard to find and harder to study in the field. “I think getting into basic genetics will play an important role in understanding the underlying causes of gigantism,” he says. Weinnig hopes the find reminds people that beyond their potential to help understand a scientific dilemma, deep-sea species deserve the spotlight. “We lose track of how incredible it is that these animals live on our planet,” says Weinnig. “They have to be resourceful at all levels … with reproduction, with metabolic processing. Everything must be used so that nothing is spoiled.”

title: “How The Giant Isopods Got Supersized Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-27” author: “Billy Fletcher”

Survival in the deep sea is inherently challenging: darkness abounds, the temperature is near-freezing, and food is hard to come by. And yet, rather than wither in the harsh conditions, many deep-sea animals, from giant spider crabs to giant squid, adapt by growing supersized, dwarfing their relatives in shallow water or on land. Why these animals get so big has intrigued scientists for more than a century. Now, asking a slightly different question – how do they get so big? – scientists are getting closer to an answer. A team of researchers recently sequenced the genome of the giant isopod Bathynomus jamesi – a first for a deep-sea crustacean. With round, chunky bodies, giant isopods look like policemen—only they can grow as long and heavy as a chihuahua. The team behind the work, led by Jianbo Yuan, a geneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, hopes that the details hidden in the animal’s genetic code will help us better understand what goes on behind the scenes, genetically speaking, with the deep sea ​​giantism. Analysis of the genes of Bathynomus jamesi hints at how this giant isopod developed the key adaptations that allow it to thrive in the deep. Photo by Jianbo Yuan and Xiaojun Zhang Giant isopods, or bathymoids, are the jumbo cousins ​​of the armored crustaceans found around under fallen logs. While the smallest species of isopods is less than half a centimeter in size, bathymoids can grow up to 80 times larger. The niches occupied by isopods are similarly varied: there are more than 10,000 known species, and they are found everywhere from the ocean floor to caves to mountaintops. This physiological and ecological diversity makes the isopod family tree the perfect place to look for clues about what drives adaptation below. Among the most intriguing questions, Yuan says, is whether today’s deep-sea giants simply descend from heavy ancestors—animals such as heartworms, large arthropod predators that existed about 50 million years ago—or whether they evolved more recently under the pressures of life in the deep sea. In the case of giant isopods, their genome points to the latter explanation. Like their bodies, bathunomid genomes are incredibly large. B. jamesi, the researchers found, has a large number of so-called jump genes, transposable elements that can move from one part of the isopod’s genetic code to another. Jumping genes are associated with high mutation rates, which researchers believe may make the isopod better equipped to deal with environmental stress. Having a large number of genes is something that B. jamesi shares with other deep-sea invertebrates. That invertebrates—organisms generally considered less complex than vertebrates—have evolved some of the most complex, adaptive genetic codes has baffled scientists since genome sequencing began. Beyond revealing the size of its genome, the scientists’ delve into the biology and genetics of B. jamesi also suggested possible explanations for a number of key adaptations the animals use to thrive in the deep. The stomach of B. jamesi, for example, can expand to take up two-thirds of its body. This ensures that when it can find food, it can gobble up as much as possible. Yuan and team also found in B. jamesi genes changes related to thyroid and insulin function, which likely enhance the isopod’s ability to grow and absorb nutrients. In addition, they found a tweak that slows down the breakdown of fat. Keeping extra trash in the trunk lets giant isopods go years without eating. Alexis Weinnig, a deep-sea biologist and geneticist at Leetown Research Laboratory in West Virginia, who was not involved in the study, says she likes that Yuan and his team are trying to better understand deep-sea isopods through their genes. Living in the deep sea, isopods are hard to find and harder to study in the field. “I think getting into basic genetics will play an important role in understanding the underlying causes of gigantism,” he says. Weinnig hopes the find reminds people that beyond their potential to help understand a scientific dilemma, deep-sea species deserve the spotlight. “We lose track of how incredible it is that these animals live on our planet,” says Weinnig. “They have to be resourceful at all levels … with reproduction, with metabolic processing. Everything must be used so that nothing is spoiled.”

title: “How The Giant Isopods Got Supersized Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-08” author: “Thomas Pulsifer”

Survival in the deep sea is inherently challenging: darkness abounds, the temperature is near-freezing, and food is hard to come by. And yet, rather than wither in the harsh conditions, many deep-sea animals, from giant spider crabs to giant squid, adapt by growing supersized, dwarfing their relatives in shallow water or on land. Why these animals get so big has intrigued scientists for more than a century. Now, asking a slightly different question – how do they get so big? – scientists are getting closer to an answer. A team of researchers recently sequenced the genome of the giant isopod Bathynomus jamesi – a first for a deep-sea crustacean. With round, chunky bodies, giant isopods look like policemen—only they can grow as long and heavy as a chihuahua. The team behind the work, led by Jianbo Yuan, a geneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, hopes that the details hidden in the animal’s genetic code will help us better understand what goes on behind the scenes, genetically speaking, with the deep sea ​​giantism. Analysis of the genes of Bathynomus jamesi hints at how this giant isopod developed the key adaptations that allow it to thrive in the deep. Photo by Jianbo Yuan and Xiaojun Zhang Giant isopods, or bathymoids, are the jumbo cousins ​​of the armored crustaceans found around under fallen logs. While the smallest species of isopods is less than half a centimeter in size, bathymoids can grow up to 80 times larger. The niches occupied by isopods are similarly varied: there are more than 10,000 known species, and they are found everywhere from the ocean floor to caves to mountaintops. This physiological and ecological diversity makes the isopod family tree the perfect place to look for clues about what drives adaptation below. Among the most intriguing questions, Yuan says, is whether today’s deep-sea giants simply descend from heavy ancestors—animals such as heartworms, large arthropod predators that existed about 50 million years ago—or whether they evolved more recently under the pressures of life in the deep sea. In the case of giant isopods, their genome points to the latter explanation. Like their bodies, bathunomid genomes are incredibly large. B. jamesi, the researchers found, has a large number of so-called jump genes, transposable elements that can move from one part of the isopod’s genetic code to another. Jumping genes are associated with high mutation rates, which researchers believe may make the isopod better equipped to deal with environmental stress. Having a large number of genes is something that B. jamesi shares with other deep-sea invertebrates. That invertebrates—organisms generally considered less complex than vertebrates—have evolved some of the most complex, adaptive genetic codes has baffled scientists since genome sequencing began. Beyond revealing the size of its genome, the scientists’ delve into the biology and genetics of B. jamesi also suggested possible explanations for a number of key adaptations the animals use to thrive in the deep. The stomach of B. jamesi, for example, can expand to take up two-thirds of its body. This ensures that when it can find food, it can gobble up as much as possible. Yuan and team also found in B. jamesi genes changes related to thyroid and insulin function, which likely enhance the isopod’s ability to grow and absorb nutrients. In addition, they found a tweak that slows down the breakdown of fat. Keeping extra trash in the trunk lets giant isopods go years without eating. Alexis Weinnig, a deep-sea biologist and geneticist at Leetown Research Laboratory in West Virginia, who was not involved in the study, says she likes that Yuan and his team are trying to better understand deep-sea isopods through their genes. Living in the deep sea, isopods are hard to find and harder to study in the field. “I think getting into basic genetics will play an important role in understanding the underlying causes of gigantism,” he says. Weinnig hopes the find reminds people that beyond their potential to help understand a scientific dilemma, deep-sea species deserve the spotlight. “We lose track of how incredible it is that these animals live on our planet,” says Weinnig. “They have to be resourceful at all levels … with reproduction, with metabolic processing. Everything must be used so that nothing is spoiled.”