甲壳动物蛀木水虱危害木船和码头木制设施，俗称“吃木虫”。而英国一项最新研究说，蛀木水虱其实也有一定益处，它体内含有的一种特殊的酶有助于将木头分解为生物能源。
英国朴次茅斯大学等机构研究人员在新一期美国《国家科学院学报》（PNAS）上报告说，与白蚁等其他以木材为食的动物不同，蛀木水虱体内并没有帮助消化木质的微生物，因此它完全靠自己将木质纤维素分解为糖分。研究发现，蛀木水虱体内拥有大量具备这种功能的酶，其中有的酶以前从未在别的动物体内发现过。
参与研究的西蒙克拉格博士说，在蛀木水虱体内发生的这种化学反应，可为生物能源生产技术的研发提供很好的线索。目前常见的生物能源是利用玉米、甘蔗等作物生产乙醇燃料，而直接利用木头、稻草等生物质来生产生物能源的技术还有待改善。
蛀木水虱是海洋中的一种小型甲壳动物，会蛀蚀木船底部、浮木、码头木质建筑的水下部分等，对航海业和海港建筑造成很大危害。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文出处：
PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.0914228107
Molecular insight into lignocellulose digestion by a marine isopod in the absence of gut microbes
Andrew J. Kinga, Simon M. Craggb, Yi Lia, Jo Dymondb, Matthew J. Guilleb, Dianna J. Bowlesa, Neil C. Brucea, Ian A. Grahama, and Simon J. McQueen-Masona,1
The digestion of lignocellulose is attracting attention both in terms of basic research into its metabolism by microorganisms and animals, and also as a means of converting plant biomass into biofuels. Limnoriid wood borers are unusual because, unlike other wood-feeding animals, they do not rely on symbiotic microbes to help digest lignocellulose. The absence of microbes in the digestive tract suggests that limnoriid wood borers produce all the enzymes necessary for lignocellulose digestion themselves. In this study we report that analysis of ESTs from the digestive system of Limnoria quadripunctata reveals a transcriptome dominated by glycosyl hydrolase genes. Indeed, < 20% of all ESTs represent genes encoding putative cellulases, including glycosyl hydrolase family 7 (GH7) cellobiohydrolases. These have not previously been reported in animal genomes, but are key digestive enzymes produced by wood-degrading fungi and symbiotic protists in termite guts. We propose that limnoriid GH7 genes are important for the efficient digestion of lignocellulose in the absence of gut microbes. Hemocyanin transcripts were highly abundant in the hepatopancreas transcriptome. Based on recent studies indicating that these proteins may function as phenoloxidases in isopods, we discuss a possible role for hemocyanins in lignin decomposition.
