In nature, there is a so-called obligate endosymbiosis – when in the body of one species lives another, each of them can not exist separately.

At McGill University in Canada, scientists have learned the secret behind the emergence of complex organisms.

Experts have learned how the obligate endosymbiosis between the Blochmannia bacterium and the ants of the Camponotini tribe arose. With such a video of symbiotic relationships, one species lives in the body of the second, while each of them cannot exist without the other.

It is believed that bacteria and ants created a complex organism 41 million years ago. The bacteria live in the ant’s cells, helping them absorb nutrients. Those, in turn, protect microorganisms from the external environment.

During the study, it turned out that in the eggs of female ants of this type of bacteria are located around the germplasm. This area of cytoplasm determines the development of germline cells and also contains RNA and the proteins encoding them.

During the transformation of an egg into a zygote, these RNA and proteins are distributed over four zones. It is noteworthy that this process has never been observed in other species of ants.

It turned out that before the formation of obligate endosymbiosis there were only two zones. The bacteria used the ability of the zonal division of the oocyte to integrate into the body and rearrange the germplasm.

This is reported by the scientific journal Nature.