CANADA: Worms aren’t living on this planet to disgust and gross people, but in fact they have more helpful purpose of cleaning the natural garbage nature creates.
Earthworms are part of a group called detritivore that comprises all bugs, fungi and bacteria. Detritivores are creatures that eat up dead things created by the planet and turn them into something more beneficial, useful and healthy for plants.
It has been a huge mystery for scientists on how worms survive the tremendous task of cleaning messes without being poisoned. Why? It is because dead plants have a natural defense that blocks gut enzymes preventing digestion. This is very toxic for any other animal, well except worms.
A group of researchers at Imperial College London unlocked the mystery when they discovered an unknown molecule present in the gut of worms, which they named drilodefensins. This molecule effectively counteracts toxins allowing the worms to breakdown dead plant toxins. The process is described as dish liquid breaking apart grease in your belongings.
Jake Bundy, professor at Imperial College and author of the study, released a statement summarizing their findings. “Without drilodefensins, fallen leaves would remain on the surface of the ground for a very long time, building up to a thick layer.”
He also said that if this process does not exists, then “Our countryside would be unrecognizable, and the whole system of carbon cycling would be disrupted.”
The team used imaging techniques (mass spectrometry and combined as pseudocolors into an earthworm‘s cross-section) to visualize the amount of drilodefensin present in worm gut.
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