The Metamorphosis transformation

            Each year, as time goes on, the price of fuel is extremely high. Especially when talking about life in the marine. As friction from the waves causes the boats to use more fuel, there is another smaller thing that comes in effect to the usage of more fuel. Ever thinking, that maybe some small organism that lives in the water could possibly have an affect on that? Well think again, Hydroides elegans, is a marine tubeworm that swims in free water and is attracted to ships or boats and attaches itself to the bottom portion of the ship and therefore causing drag on the ship and causing the ship to use more fuel. Allowing the organism to go from free water swimming to anchoring must go through a metamorphosis process to allow it to have that signal to be attracted to the ship.

   

        Michael Hadfield, a professor form the university of Hawaii had done a test on how such tubeworm to go through such transformation from a free swimming larva to a tubeworm, “Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea a bacteria that influences the metamorphosis of H. elegans.” Coming in contact with P. luteoviolacea would cause the reaction of the H elegans and make it transform, but the bacteria genes of this whole transformation, which is the main point of the metamorphosis. Expressing the point of which the transformation occurs and points out that metamorphosis-associated contractile structure, or also known as MAC’s are known to form arrays that causes it to switch from such organism to another. Yet pointing out that his research has questionable facts; P. luteoviolacea can come into contact with other unknown and known organisms that can also have the affect of the metamorphosis. That question is not yet answered. Pointing out both sides quite well made my thoughts to go in her side because of the facts that she showed and logic of her data and research.

Picture link: http://www.the-scientist.com/images/News/January2014/juvtube.jpg

Article link: http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/38835/title/Settlement-Signal/