Transcriptome and genome data from twenty stony coral species and a selection of reference bilaterians were studied to elucidate coral evolutionary history. We identified genes that encode the proteins responsible for the precipitation and aggregation of the aragonite skeleton on which the organisms live, and revealed a network of environmental...
The most diverse marine ecosystems, coral reefs, depend upon a functional symbiosis between a cnidarian animal host (the coral) and intracellular photosynthetic dinoflagellate algae. The molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying this endosymbiosis are not well understood, in part because of the difficulties of experimental work with corals. The small sea...
The “9th Okazaki Biology Conference: Marine Biology II” held at the National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB) in
Okazaki, Japan and at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) in Okinawa, Japan (14–19 October
2012) bridged the fields of EvoDevo, symbiosis and coral reef ecology.
Animals must manage interactions with beneficial as well as detrimental microbes. Immunity therefore includes strategies for both resistance to and tolerance of microbial invaders. Transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) cytokines have many functions in animals including a tolerance-promoting (tolerogenic) role in immunity in vertebrates. TGFβ pathways are present in basal...
The symbiosis between cnidarians (e.g., corals or sea anemones) and intracellular dinoflagellate algae of the genus Symbiodinium is of immense ecological importance. In particular, this symbiosis promotes the growth and survival of reef corals in nutrient-poor tropical waters; indeed, coral reefs could not exist without this symbiosis. However, our fundamental...