The complement system is an innate immune pathway that in vertebrates, is responsible for initial recognition and ultimately phagocytosis and destruction of microbes. Several complement molecules including C3, Factor B, and mannose binding lectin associated serine proteases (MASP) have been characterized in invertebrates and while most studies have focused on...
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...
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...
Experimental manipulation of the symbiosis between cnidarians and photosynthetic dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium spp.) is crucial to advancing the understanding of the cellular mechanisms involved in host-symbiont interactions, and overall coral reef ecology. The anemone Aiptasia sp. is a model for cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis, and notably it can be rendered aposymbiotic (i.e. dinoflagellate-free)...
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.
Reproductive timing in corals is associated with environmental variables including temperature, lunar periodicity, and
seasonality. Although it is clear that these variables are interrelated, it remains unknown if one variable in particular acts as
the proximate signaler for gamete and or larval release. Furthermore, in an era of global warming,...
The tropical sea anemone, Aiptasia sp., is a model organism within the phylum cnidaria, a group that includes globally threatened corals which are the bio-engineers of coral reefs.
Aiptasia reproduce both sexually, in a process known as spawning, and asexually, mainly through a process known as pedal laceration. During spawning,...
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...
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...
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...