Evolution of a biological thermocouple by adaptation of cytochrome c oxidase in a subterrestrial metazoan, Halicephalobus mephisto.

In this study, we report a biological temperature-sensing electrical regulator in the cytochrome c oxidase of the Devil Worm, Halicephalobus mephisto. This extremophile metazoan was isolated 1.3 km underground in a South African goldmine, where it adapted to heat and potentially to hypoxia, making its mitochondrial sequence a likely target of adaptational change.

Evolution of a biological thermocouple by adaptation of cytochrome c oxidase in a subterrestrial metazoan.

In this study we report a naturally evolved temperature-sensing electrical regulator in the cytochrome c oxidase of the Devil Worm, . This extremophile metazoan was isolated 1.3 km underground in a South African goldmine, where it adapted to heat and potentially to hypoxia, making its mitochondrial sequence a likely target of adaptational change.