Close up of the world's smallest vampire

The world's smallest blood-sucking vampire is called Vampyrella. It is a nightmare for all species of algae, bacteria, fungi.

Vampyrella - The world's smallest vampire

The smallest vampire in the world has a devastating level of destruction but fortunately they are not yet a threat to humans.

The same vampire (red) drained the 'blood' of the algae cells (middle).

Vampyrella or vampire amoeba (blood-sucking deformity) was first discovered in 1865 by Russian biologist Leon Semenowitj Cienkowski. When observing the microscope, Cienkowski discovered that the single-celled creatures were red, looking a bit like a metamorphic (amoeba) that attacked algae cells (algae) by puncturing the protective outer membrane and then It drains the substance inside the algae cells. Based on that behavior, Cienkowski named this new microbe Vampyrella.

Later, scientists discovered some other vampire germs. They are grouped into a group called vampyrellid. Today, this group is considered a subset of a larger group of single-celled organisms called Rhizaria.

After " draining the blood" of the prey, the vampire worm began to erect a hard wall surrounding it, called a cyst . This capsule will protect them from other predators, allowing them time to "digest" food. Sebastian Hess, of the University of Cologne (Germany), described: " They will be in a state of motion for a while to absorb food . " This process takes 1-2 days. At the same time, the vampire worm also carried out cell division. Finally, when the follicles open, there will be two insects appear compared to the first one. Compared to some way from a " healthy " cell, it turned into a vampire after being " exposed " to the vampire infection. It is quite similar to the stories in the human world.

Complex kinship

Their hunting style has caused a lot of interest in microbiology. Today we know vampires don't just attack algae cells. Some other species can attack both fungi, or even some other multicellular organisms - like nematodes. In the absence of enough food, some of the same species can merge individual cells into a larger structure. These structures will then "migrate" according to the environment to the appropriate food source and grow back.

Vampyrella lateritia has a spherical shape.

In their research, Hess and colleagues tried to analyze how many species of insects have relatives. He kept 8 different types of germs in the laboratory and analyzed their DNA. Although all of the microbiological samples that Hess analyzed were considered by vets of the vampire worm, no one was certain that they were related. In fact, they have quite a few differences. For example, most Vampyrella species are usually round, Leptophrys vorax (L. vorax) has the ability to transform, it has fake legs that spread out everywhere.

Larvae Leptophrys vorax has an unknown shape.

However, DNA analysis confirms that they belong to the same group of microorganisms. Hess realized that this overlapping group had at least two subgroups of related relatives - the Vampyrella group and the group containing species like L. vorax. Their differences seem to start from " choosing a place to live ", Vampyrella only lives in ponds and puddles while the other group lives in the soil.

A year later, Cédric Berney and his colleagues at the London Museum of Natural History (UK) brought the knowledge of this species further. They discovered eight new species of parasites that live in seawater or saltwater , along with 454 DNA sequences that are clearly vampire-like and all of them are sampled around the world.

This means that there are many other undiscovered vampire germs , many of which live in the sea - a place no one has ever really sought. According to Berney's analysis, the two groups that Hess previously found belong to another larger group - and there seem to be two other larger groups - one of which seems to belong to species living in the sea.

Red spots are Vampyrella lateritia follicles that are digesting food.

However, Berney's discovery relies heavily on the DNA traces they leave in water or mud samples. So we don't know the true shape of these new species. Berney believes that the genetic diversity of vampire germs may be more than the fungi that exist on the planet. But Hess thinks we need to be careful before we get a real sample to verify.

Finding a new species is very difficult."Although vampires are very popular and ubiquitous, they don't usually appear at the same time in large numbers ," Hess explained. This probably comes from the fact that they are predators, so each individual needs their own " feeding " space. In addition, they may also be "prey" of other predators in the environment.

The secret has not been answered

Although biologically vampire vampires have been discovered for 1.5 centuries, their secrets about hunting are still not deciphered . How are they able to perforate the outer membrane of bacteria and fungi to attract the substance from inside? Just like insects or crustaceans, the outer shells of these species are made from a very durable protein called chitin. It is also what makes shells of shrimp and crabs, but if we want to eat the meat inside, we must use external force to break.

Does vampire infection share the same secret with warmed plants?

It is difficult to answer immediately, but the puncture process is very fast. Hess describes: "The process of invading the cell wall takes about 5-10 minutes. They must have one or a set of enzymes that are strong enough to digest the cell membrane. And I'm trying to find understand that ".

Deciphering the mystery is not just a science fun. There are currently many technology companies investing in biofuel production from green algae. Biofuels are a hot concern because it can help reduce dependence on fossil fuels from coal or oil. But extracting energy-rich sugar molecules from blue-green algae is not a simple task because they have a strong protective film.

Vampires can hold the key to biofuels.

So if the secret of the vampire worm is decoded, it could help reduce production costs and stimulate the development of biofuels . In the meantime, the information hidden deep within this tiny " vampire " is still in mystery.