You are not the only one who is reading this.
Most people on Earth are habitats for mites that spend most of their time in our hair follicles. Humans are the only living beings. They are born on us and die on us.
Your dead skin cells are eaten before you kick the bucket.
New research suggests that D. folliculorum is dependent on humans for their survival and that the mites are in the process of evolving into internal symbionts.
These mites are merging with us so that they live permanently in us.
The results show that the human-centered existence of these little beasts could cause changes not seen in other mite species.
"We found that these mites have a different arrangement of body part genes to other similar species due to them adapting to a sheltered life inside pores," said the University of Reading's Alejandra Perotti.
Some strange body features and behaviors have been caused by the changes to their genes.
There is a D. folliculorum in the preparation of human skin. The CC BY 2.0 is written by K.V Santosh.
D. folliculorum is an interesting creature. The majority of the two-week lifespan of a human is spent in pursuit of food.
The individuals emerge only at night, in the cover of darkness, to crawl slowly across the skin to find a mate, and then return to the safe darkness of a follicle.
Their tiny bodies are just a third of a millimeter in length, with a cluster of tiny legs and a mouth at one end.
Some of the fascinating genetic characteristics that drive this lifestyle were revealed by the work on the mite's genome.
Their genome has been reduced to the bare essentials because they have no natural predators, no competition, or exposure to other mite.
Their legs are powered by three, single-cell muscles, and their bodies have the minimum number of cells needed for survival. It's the smallest number in the group.
The reason for some of the strange peccadilloes is the truncated genome. The reason it doesn't come out at night. Those genes that protect against UV radiation and those that wake animals up at night are among the genes that have been lost.
melatonin is important for regulating the sleep cycle in humans but is not produced in most living organisms.
It can harvest melatonin from the skin of its host at night.
This doesn't make sense. Smith et al. were involved in the study. It's a journal. There is an evol.
The reproductive organs of D. folliculorum have moved closer to the front of the body. He has to arrange himself under the female as they perch precariously on a hair for sex, which they do all night, AC/DC style.
There is very little opportunity for expanding genetic diversity, even though it is important. It's possible that the mites are on their way to a dead end.
When the mites have the most cells in their bodies is when the nymph stage of development begins. The first step in the evolution of arthropods is the loss of cells when they reach the adult stage.
Something the researchers found might hint at the answer to the question of what benefits humans can gain from these strange animals. Scientists have thought for a long time that the mite doesn't have an anus because it accumulates waste in its body when it dies.
You're probably on a watch list now that the arrow points to the anus. The University of Reading is located there.
This is not the case. The mites have small butt holes, and your face probably isn't full of them.
Henk Braig is a zoologist at the National University of San Juan in Argentina. The long association with humans suggests that they could have simple but important beneficial roles, for example, in keeping the pores in our face unplugged.
The research has appeared in a journal.
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