In:
eLife, eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, Vol. 6 ( 2017-05-08)
Abstract:
Cnidarians, such as corals and sea anemones, often form a close relationship with microscopic algae that live inside their cells – a partnership, on which the entire coral reef ecosystem depends. These microalgae produce sugars and other compounds that the cnidarians need to survive, while the cnidarians protect the microalgae from the environment and provide the raw materials they need to harness energy from sunlight. However, very little is known about how the two partners are able to communicate with each other to form this close relationship, which is referred to as a symbiosis. Symbiotic relationships between a host and a microbe require a number of adaptations on both sides, and involve numerous signalling molecules. A host species is under constant pressure to develop mechanisms to recognize and tolerate the beneficial microbes without leaving itself vulnerable to attack by microbes that might cause disease. Similarly, the beneficial microbes need to be able to invade and survive inside their host. Previous research has shown that TSR proteins in hosts play a role in recognizing and controlling disease-causing microbes. Until now, however, it was unknown whether TSR proteins are involved in establishing a symbiosis between cnidarians and their algal partners. Neubauer et al. analysed six species of symbiotic cnidarians and discovered a diverse repertoire of TSR proteins. These proteins were found in the host genomes, rather than in the symbiotic algae, strongly suggesting that they originated from the host. Neubauer et al. next incubated a sea anemone species in a solution of TSR proteins and saw that it became ‘super-colonized’ with algae, meaning that over time, millions of the microalgae entered and stayed in the anemone’s tentacles. In contrast, when the TSR proteins were blocked, colonization was almost entirely stopped. This suggests that host TSR proteins play an important role for the microalgae when they colonialize corals and other cnidarians. The signals that enable microalgae to successfully colonialize cnidarians are unquestionably complex and there is still much to learn. These findings add another piece to the puzzle of how symbiotic algae bypass the cnidarian’s immune system to persist and flourish in their host. An important next step will be to test how blocking the genes that encode the TSR proteins will affect the symbiotic relationship between these species.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2050-084X
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.001
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.002
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.003
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.004
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.005
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.006
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.007
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.008
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.009
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.010
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.011
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.012
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.013
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.014
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.015
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.016
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.017
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.018
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.019
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.020
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.021
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.022
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.023
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.024
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.025
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.026
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.24494.027
Language:
English
Publisher:
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Publication Date:
2017
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2687154-3