Characterization of Fluorescence in the Marine Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-14

fluorescence data. RESULTS We made the first in situ observations of fluorescence in deepwater organisms, including corals, anemones , crinoids...project, they resulted in the discovery of fluorescence in a shark, a greeneye fish (Chlorophthalmus agassizi) (Figure 2), an anemone , a starfish, a sea...Scyphozoa), and the box jellies (Class Cubozoa). The Class Anthozoa includes the stony corals, anemones , and zoanthids (Subclass Zooantharia

Sox genes in the coral Acropora millepora: divergent expression patterns reflect differences in developmental mechanisms within the Anthozoa

PubMed Central

2008-01-01

Background Sox genes encode transcription factors that function in a wide range of developmental processes across the animal kingdom. To better understand both the evolution of the Sox family and the roles of these genes in cnidarians, we are studying the Sox gene complement of the coral, Acropora millepora (Class Anthozoa). Results Based on overall domain structures and HMG box sequences, the Acropora Sox genes considered here clearly fall into four of the five major Sox classes. AmSoxC is expressed in the ectoderm during development, in cells whose morphology is consistent with their assignment as sensory neurons. The expression pattern of the Nematostella ortholog of this gene is broadly similar to that of AmSoxC, but there are subtle differences – for example, expression begins significantly earlier in Acropora than in Nematostella. During gastrulation, AmSoxBb and AmSoxB1 transcripts are detected only in the presumptive ectoderm while AmSoxE1 transcription is restricted to the presumptive endoderm, suggesting that these Sox genes might play roles in germ layer specification. A third type B Sox gene, AmSoxBa, and a Sox F gene AmSoxF also have complex and specific expression patterns during early development. Each of these genes has a clear Nematostella ortholog, but in several cases the expression pattern observed in Acropora differs significantly from that reported in Nematostella. Conclusion These differences in expression patterns between Acropora and Nematostella largely reflect fundamental differences in developmental processes, underscoring the diversity of mechanisms within the anthozoan Sub-Class Hexacorallia (Zoantharia). PMID:19014479

Dangerous reef aquaristics: Palytoxin of a brown encrusting anemone causes toxic corneal reactions.

PubMed

Ruiz, Yasmin; Fuchs, Joan; Beuschel, Ralf; Tschopp, Markus; Goldblum, David

2015-11-01

Although frequently observed in domestic saltwater aquariums, literature on exposure to palytoxin (PTX) of encrusting anemones (Zoanthidea) kept in aquariums is rare. Handling these animals for propagation purposes or during cleaning work can lead to dermal, ocular or respiratory contact with the PTX generated by some Zoanthids. The present study describes a case of ocular exposure to liquid from a Zoanthid, which led to corneal ulcers. The patient also suffered from systemic symptoms of dyspnea and shivering and a suspected rhabdomyolysis, which required monitoring in the Intensive Care Unit. After symptomatic treatment provided insufficient results, the corneal ulcers improved with an amniotic membrane transplantation. A review of the literature regarding ocular exposures to this diverse order of Hexacorallia reveals that severe and systemic symptoms can develop with minimal contact. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of competition in the phase shift to dominance of the zoanthid Palythoa cf. variabilis on coral reefs.

PubMed

Cruz, Igor Cristino Silva; Meira, Verena Henschen; de Kikuchi, Ruy Kenji Papa; Creed, Joel Christopher

2016-04-01

Phase shift phenomena are becoming increasingly common. However, they are also opportunities to better understand how communities are structured. In Southwest Atlantic coral reefs, a shift to the zoanthid Palythoa cf. variabilis dominance has been described. To test if competition drove this process, we carried out a manipulative experiment with three coral species. To estimate the natural frequency of encounters we assess the relationship between the proportion of encounters and this zoanthids coverage. The contact causes necrosis in 78% of coral colonies (6.47 ± SD 7.92 cm(2)) in 118 days. We found a logarithmic relationship between the proportion of these encounters and the cover of P. cf. variabilis, where 5.5% coverage of this zoanthid is enough to put 50% of coral colonies in contact, increasing their partial mortality. We demonstrate that zoanthid coverage increase followed by coral mortality increase will reduce coral cover and that competition drives the phase shift process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Two new species of Neozoanthus (Cnidaria, Hexacorallia, Zoantharia) from the Pacific

PubMed Central

Reimer, James Davis; Irei, Yuka; Fujii, Takuma

2012-01-01

Abstract The zoanthid genus Neozoanthus was originally described in 1972 from a single species in Madagascar. This monotypic genus was placed within its own family, Neozoanthidae, given its unusual characters of only partial sand encrustation, and an endodermal sphincter muscle combined with a brachycnemic mesenterial arrangement. Recently, undescribed specimens of Neozoanthus were discovered thousands of kilometers away in both Australia and Japan. While the phylogenetic and evolutionary aspects of Neozoanthus spp. are now somewhat well understood, the new specimens remained undescribed. Here we describe the specimens as two new species, Neozoanthus uchina sp. n. from the Middle Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan, and Neozoanthus caleyi sp. n. from the waters around Heron Island, on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Both species can be distinguished from each other and the type species, Neozoanthus tulearensis, by their distributions, oral disk colors, and average numbers of tentacles. Additionally, each species appears to have subtle differences in their cnidae. The division of Japanese and Australian specimens into two species is strongly supported by recently reported phylogenetic data. The discovery and description of these two species highlights how little is known of zoanthid species diversity in the Indo-Pacific. PMID:23275752

Anticholinesterase activity of the fluorescent zoanthid pigment, parazoanthoxanthin A.

PubMed

Sepcić, K; Turk, T; Macek, P

1998-06-01

A synthetic linear tetrazacyclopent(f)azulene compound, parazoanthoxanthin A (m.w. 214.2), strongly fluorescent pigment occurring in zoanthids, was characterized and assayed for anticholinesterase activity. The pigment, emitting fluorescence at lambda(em) 420 nm, was found to be a pure competitive inhibitor of cholinesterases. At pH 8.0, a Ki value of 19 and 26 microM was determined with insect recombinant, and electric eel acetylcholinesterase. Horse serum butyrylcholinesterase was less sensitive with a Ki of 70 microM.

Vojnovskytesidae - a new family of Mississippian Rugosa (Anthozoa)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fedorowski, Jerzy; Kullmann, Jürgen

2013-12-01

Fedorowski, J. and Kullmann, J. 2013. Vojnovskytesidae - a new family of Mississippian Rugosa (Anthozoa). Acta Geologica Polonica, 63(4), 657-679. Warszawa. Two new species of the genus Vojnovskytes Fedorowski, 2009, namely V. marcinowskii and V. arcuatus, and a new genus, Vojnimitor, based on the new species V. proiectus, all from Mississippian strata of northern Spain, are described. Vojnovskytes variabilis (Vojnovsky-Krieger, 1934), the type species for the genus from the lowermost Visean strata of southern Urals, also is discussed and illustrated. Characters displayed by the taxa mentioned permit introduction of a new family Vojnovskytesidae.

Shallow-water zoantharians (Cnidaria, Hexacorallia) from the Central Indo-Pacific.

PubMed

Reimer, James D; Poliseno, Angelo; Hoeksema, Bert W

2014-01-01

Despite the Central Indo-Pacific (CIP) and the Indonesian Archipelago being a well-known region of coral reef biodiversity, particularly in the 'Coral Triangle', little published information is available on its zoantharians (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia: Zoantharia). In order to provide a basis for future research on the Indo-Pacific zoantharian fauna and facilitate comparisons between more well-studied regions such as Japan and the Great Barrier Reef, this report deals with CIP zoantharian specimens in the Naturalis collection in Leiden, the Netherlands; 106 specimens were placed into 24 morpho-species and were supplemented with 88 in situ photographic records from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. At least nine morpho-species are likely to be undescribed species, indicating that the region needs more research in order to properly understand zoantharian diversity within the CIP. The Naturalis' zoantharian specimens are listed by species, as well as all relevant collection information, and in situ images are provided to aid in future studies on zoantharians in the CIP.

Anti-Lymphangiogenesis Components from Zoanthid Palythoa tuberculosa

PubMed Central

Chen, Shu-Rong; Wang, Shih-Wei; Su, Chien-Jung; Hu, Hao-Chun; Hsieh, Chi-Ting; Peng, Chia-Chi

2018-01-01

Three new compounds, tuberazines A–C (1–3), and eleven known compounds (4–14) were obtained from the ethanolic extract of Taiwanese zoanthid Palythoa tuberculosa. Compounds 1–4 are rare marine natural products with a pyrazine moiety, and compound 5 is a tricyclic tryptamine derivative isolated from nature for the first time. The structures of all isolated metabolites were determined by analyzing their IR, Mass, NMR, and UV spectrometric data. The absolute configuration of 1 was confirmed by comparing the trend of experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) with calculated ECD spectra. The anti-lymphangiogenic activities of new compounds were evaluated in human lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs). Of these, new compound 3 displayed the most potent anti-lymphangiogenesis property by suppressing cell growth and tube formation of LECs. PMID:29385063

Identification of a new 6-bromo-5,9-eicosadienoic acid from the anemone Condylactis gigantea and the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum.

PubMed

Carballeira, N M; Reyes, M

1995-11-01

A new brominated fatty acid, 6-bromo-5,9-eicosadienoic acid [1] was identified in the phospholipids (mainly phosphatidylethanolamine) of the anemone Condylactis gigantea and the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum. The delta 5,9 fatty acids, 5,9-octadecadienoic acid, 5,9-eicosadienoic acid, 5,9-docosadienoic acid, and 5,9-tetracosadienoic acid, were also identified in both organisms. Structural elucidation was accomplished by spectroscopic and chemical means. Our results further corroborate that delta 5,9 phospholipid fatty acids are not unique to sponges, as recognized previously, but can be found in other marine invertebrates such as anemones and zoanthids. An improved procedure for the synthesis of picolinyl esters is also described.

Insights into the toxicological properties of a low molecular weight fraction from Zoanthus sociatus (Cnidaria).

PubMed

Domínguez-Pérez, Dany; Diaz-Garcia, Carlos Manlio; García-Delgado, Neivys; Sierra-Gómez, Yusvel; Castañeda, Olga; Antunes, Agostinho

2013-08-13

The phylum Cnidaria is an ancient group of venomous animals, specialized in the production and delivery of toxins. Many species belonging to the class Anthozoa have been studied and their venoms often contain a group of peptides, less than 10 kDa, that act upon ion channels. These peptides and their targets interact with high affinity producing neurotoxic and cardiotoxic effects, and even death, depending on the dose and the administration pathway. Zoanthiniaria is an order of the Subclass Hexacorallia, class Anthozoa, and unlike sea anemone (order Actiniaria), neither its diversity of toxins nor the in vivo effects of the venoms has been exhaustively explored. In this study we assessed some toxicological tests on mice with a low molecular weight fraction obtained by gel filtration in Sephadex G-50 from Zoanthus sociatus crude extract. The gel filtration chromatogram at 280 nm revealed two major peaks, the highest absorbance corresponding to the low molecular weight fraction. The toxicological effects seem to be mostly autonomic and cardiotoxic, causing death in a dose dependent manner with a LD50 of 792 μg/kg. Moreover, at a dose of 600 μg/kg the active fraction accelerated the KCl-induced lethality in mice.

Insights into the Toxicological Properties of a Low Molecular Weight Fraction from Zoanthus sociatus (Cnidaria)

PubMed Central

Domínguez-Pérez, Dany; Diaz-Garcia, Carlos Manlio; García-Delgado, Neivys; Sierra-Gómez, Yusvel; Castañeda, Olga; Antunes, Agostinho

2013-01-01

The phylum Cnidaria is an ancient group of venomous animals, specialized in the production and delivery of toxins. Many species belonging to the class Anthozoa have been studied and their venoms often contain a group of peptides, less than 10 kDa, that act upon ion channels. These peptides and their targets interact with high affinity producing neurotoxic and cardiotoxic effects, and even death, depending on the dose and the administration pathway. Zoanthiniaria is an order of the Subclass Hexacorallia, class Anthozoa, and unlike sea anemone (order Actiniaria), neither its diversity of toxins nor the in vivo effects of the venoms has been exhaustively explored. In this study we assessed some toxicological tests on mice with a low molecular weight fraction obtained by gel filtration in Sephadex G-50 from Zoanthus sociatus crude extract. The gel filtration chromatogram at 280 nm revealed two major peaks, the highest absorbance corresponding to the low molecular weight fraction. The toxicological effects seem to be mostly autonomic and cardiotoxic, causing death in a dose dependent manner with a LD50 of 792 μg/kg. Moreover, at a dose of 600 μg/kg the active fraction accelerated the KCl-induced lethality in mice. PMID:23945599

The mitochondrial genome of Hydra oligactis (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) sheds new light on animal mtDNA evolution and cnidarian phylogeny.

PubMed

Kayal, Ehsan; Lavrov, Dennis V

2008-02-29

The 16,314-nuceotide sequence of the linear mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule of Hydra oligactis (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa)--the first from the class Hydrozoa--has been determined. This sequence contains genes for 13 energy pathway proteins, small and large subunit rRNAs, and methionine and tryptophan tRNAs, as is typical for cnidarians. All genes have the same transcriptional orientation and their arrangement in the genome is similar to that of the jellyfish Aurelia aurita. In addition, a partial copy of cox1 is present at one end of the molecule in a transcriptional orientation opposite to the rest of the genes, forming a part of inverted terminal repeat characteristic of linear mtDNA and linear mitochondrial plasmids. The sequence close to at least one end of the molecule contains several homonucleotide runs as well as small inverted repeats that are able to form strong secondary structures and may be involved in mtDNA maintenance and expression. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial genes of H. oligactis and other cnidarians supports the Medusozoa hypothesis but also suggests that Anthozoa may be paraphyletic, with octocorallians more closely related to the Medusozoa than to the Hexacorallia. The latter inference implies that Anthozoa is paraphyletic and that the polyp (rather than a medusa) is the ancestral body type in Cnidaria.

Shallow-water zoantharians (Cnidaria, Hexacorallia) from the Central Indo-Pacific

PubMed Central

Reimer, James D.; Poliseno, Angelo; Hoeksema, Bert W.

2014-01-01

Abstract Despite the Central Indo-Pacific (CIP) and the Indonesian Archipelago being a well-known region of coral reef biodiversity, particularly in the ‘Coral Triangle’, little published information is available on its zoantharians (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia: Zoantharia). In order to provide a basis for future research on the Indo-Pacific zoantharian fauna and facilitate comparisons between more well-studied regions such as Japan and the Great Barrier Reef, this report deals with CIP zoantharian specimens in the Naturalis collection in Leiden, the Netherlands; 106 specimens were placed into 24 morpho-species and were supplemented with 88 in situ photographic records from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. At least nine morpho-species are likely to be undescribed species, indicating that the region needs more research in order to properly understand zoantharian diversity within the CIP. The Naturalis’ zoantharian specimens are listed by species, as well as all relevant collection information, and in situ images are provided to aid in future studies on zoantharians in the CIP. PMID:25349499

Universal target-enrichment baits for anthozoan (Cnidaria) phylogenomics: New approaches to long-standing problems.

PubMed

Quattrini, Andrea M; Faircloth, Brant C; Dueñas, Luisa F; Bridge, Tom C L; Brugler, Mercer R; Calixto-Botía, Iván F; DeLeo, Danielle M; Forêt, Sylvain; Herrera, Santiago; Lee, Simon M Y; Miller, David J; Prada, Carlos; Rádis-Baptista, Gandhi; Ramírez-Portilla, Catalina; Sánchez, Juan A; Rodríguez, Estefanía; McFadden, Catherine S

2018-03-01

Anthozoans (e.g., corals, anemones) are an ecologically important and diverse group of marine metazoans that occur from shallow to deep waters worldwide. However, our understanding of the evolutionary relationships among the ~7,500 species within this class is hindered by the lack of phylogenetically informative markers that can be reliably sequenced across a diversity of taxa. We designed and tested 16,306 RNA baits to capture 720 ultraconserved element loci and 1,071 exon loci. Library preparation and target enrichment were performed on 33 taxa from all orders within the class Anthozoa. Following Illumina sequencing and Trinity assembly, we recovered 1,774 of 1,791 targeted loci. The mean number of loci recovered from each species was 638 ± 222, with more loci recovered from octocorals (783 ± 138 loci) than hexacorals (475 ± 187 loci). Parsimony informative sites ranged from 26 to 49% for alignments at differing hierarchical taxonomic levels (e.g., Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Hexacorallia). The per cent of variable sites within each of three genera (Acropora, Alcyonium, and Sinularia) for which multiple species were sequenced ranged from 4.7% to 30%. Maximum-likelihood analyses recovered highly resolved trees with topologies matching those supported by other studies, including the monophyly of the order Scleractinia. Our results demonstrate the utility of this target-enrichment approach to resolve phylogenetic relationships from relatively old to recent divergences. Redesigning the baits with improved affinities to capture loci within each subclass will provide a valuable toolset to address systematic questions, further our understanding of the timing of diversifications and help resolve long-standing controversial relationships in the class Anthozoa. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The biology and ecology of black corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia: Antipatharia).

PubMed

Wagner, Daniel; Luck, Daniel G; Toonen, Robert J

2012-01-01

Antipatharians, commonly known as black corals, are treasured by many cultures for medicinal purposes and to produce jewellery. Despite their economic and cultural importance, very little is known about the basic biology and ecology of black corals because most species inhabit deeper-water environments (>50m) which are logistically challenging to study. There has been a recent increase of studies focusing on antipatharians; however, these have not yet been comprehensively reviewed. This literature review seeks to summarize the available information on the biology and ecology of antipatharians. Although black corals occur throughout all oceans and from subtidal to abyssal depths, they are particularly common in tropical and subtropical regions at depths below 50m. Antipatharians are generally found in areas with hard substrates, low-light and strong currents. Under favourable conditions, some black coral species form dense aggregations to the point of becoming ecologically dominant. Zooplankton appears to be the major component of the diet of black corals, which feed as suspension feeders and use mucus and nematocysts to capture their prey. Previously categorized as azooxanthellate corals, recent research has revealed that many antipatharians appear capable of harbouring symbionts, but unlike other corals, dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium are generally not important to the nutrition of black corals. Antipatharians reproduce through both sexual and asexual processes. In general, polyps and colonies are gonochoric, with fertilization and larval development likely occurring externally; however, to date antipatharian larvae have only been observed for a single species. Antipatharians are generally slow-growing and long-lived organisms with maximum longevities ranging from decades to millennia. Black corals are more abundant with depth, a pattern which has been hypothesized to avoid competition with obligate photosynthetic fauna. Additionally, antipatharians may compete for space by using sweeper tentacles and secondary metabolites. With the exception of a few predators such as gastropods and green sea turtles, antipatharians appear to be little impacted by predation. Like other corals, antipatharians can be habitat engineers of importance to a myriad of associated organisms including arthropods, annelids, echinoderms, mollusks, sponges and cnidarians, several of which are adapted to live exclusively on black corals. Given that most black coral species inhabit remote environments, our understanding of these organisms will depend on our ability to effectively sample and study them. Future collections, particularly in deeper waters (>50m), will be needed to determine whether antipatharian species have limited biogeographical distributions or whether this has simply been an artefact of low sampling efforts away from population centres and taxonomic uncertainties within this group. Additionally, biological and ecological studies require increased sample sizes because most information is currently derived from the examination of only a handful of specimens. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chekhovichia, a new generic replacement name for Rotalites Leleshus 1970 (Anthozoa: Heliolitoidea) non Lamarck 1801 (Protista: Foraminifera).

PubMed

Doweld, Alexander B

2015-10-29

The genus Rotalites was established by Leleshus (1970: 97) for fossil Upper Silurian heliolitoids (Anthozoa) from Southern Tien Shan. However, the name is preoccupied by Rotalites Lamarck (1801: 401) of Foraminifera (Protista) (cf. Loeblich & Tappan, 1987). In accordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Chekhovichia nom. nov. is proposed here as a replacement name for Rotalites Leleshus non Lamarck.

Probing the phylogenetic relationships of a few newly recorded intertidal zoanthids of Gujarat coast (India) with mtDNA COI sequences.

PubMed

Joseph, Sneha; Poriya, Paresh; Kundu, Rahul

2016-11-01

The present study reports the phylogenetic relationship of six zoanthid species belonging to three genera, Isaurus, Palythoa, and Zoanthus identified using systematic computational analysis of mtDNA gene sequences. All six species are first recorded from the coasts of Kathiawar Peninsula, India. Genus: Isaurus is represented by Isaurus tuberculatus, genus Zoanthus is represented by Zoanthus kuroshio and Zoanthus sansibaricus, while genus Palythoa is represented by Palythoa tuberculosa, P. sp. JVK-2006 and Palythoa heliodiscus. Results of the present study revealed that among the various species observed along the coastline, a minimum of 99% sequence divergence and a maximum of 96% sequence divergence were seen. An interspecific divergence of 1-4% and negligible intraspecific divergence was observed. These results not only highlighted the efficiency of the COI gene region in species identification but also demonstrated the genetic variability of zoanthids along the Saurashtra coastline of the west coast of India.

Cnidarian phylogenetic relationships as revealed by mitogenomics.

PubMed

Kayal, Ehsan; Roure, Béatrice; Philippe, Hervé; Collins, Allen G; Lavrov, Dennis V

2013-01-09

Cnidaria (corals, sea anemones, hydroids, jellyfish) is a phylum of relatively simple aquatic animals characterized by the presence of the cnidocyst: a cell containing a giant capsular organelle with an eversible tubule (cnida). Species within Cnidaria have life cycles that involve one or both of the two distinct body forms, a typically benthic polyp, which may or may not be colonial, and a typically pelagic mostly solitary medusa. The currently accepted taxonomic scheme subdivides Cnidaria into two main assemblages: Anthozoa (Hexacorallia + Octocorallia) - cnidarians with a reproductive polyp and the absence of a medusa stage - and Medusozoa (Cubozoa, Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, Staurozoa) - cnidarians that usually possess a reproductive medusa stage. Hypothesized relationships among these taxa greatly impact interpretations of cnidarian character evolution. We expanded the sampling of cnidarian mitochondrial genomes, particularly from Medusozoa, to reevaluate phylogenetic relationships within Cnidaria. Our phylogenetic analyses based on a mitochogenomic dataset support many prior hypotheses, including monophyly of Hexacorallia, Octocorallia, Medusozoa, Cubozoa, Staurozoa, Hydrozoa, Carybdeida, Chirodropida, and Hydroidolina, but reject the monophyly of Anthozoa, indicating that the Octocorallia + Medusozoa relationship is not the result of sampling bias, as proposed earlier. Further, our analyses contradict Scyphozoa [Discomedusae + Coronatae], Acraspeda [Cubozoa + Scyphozoa], as well as the hypothesis that Staurozoa is the sister group to all the other medusozoans. Cnidarian mitochondrial genomic data contain phylogenetic signal informative for understanding the evolutionary history of this phylum. Mitogenome-based phylogenies, which reject the monophyly of Anthozoa, provide further evidence for the polyp-first hypothesis. By rejecting the traditional Acraspeda and Scyphozoa hypotheses, these analyses suggest that the shared morphological characters in

Zoanthid mucus as new source of useful biologically active proteins.

PubMed

Guarnieri, Míriam Camargo; de Albuquerque Modesto, Jeanne Claíne; Pérez, Carlos Daniel; Ottaiano, Tatiana Fontes; Ferreira, Rodrigo da Silva; Batista, Fabrício Pereira; de Brito, Marlon Vilela; Campos, Ikaro Henrique Mendes Pinto; Oliva, Maria Luiza Vilela

2018-03-01

Palythoa caribaeorum is a very common colonial zoanthid in the coastal reefs of Brazil. It is known for its massive production of mucus, which is traditionally used in folk medicine by fishermen in northeastern Brazil. This study identified biologically active compounds in P. caribaerum mucus. Crude mucus was collected during low tides by the manual scraping of colonies; samples were maintained in an ice bath, homogenized, and centrifuged at 16,000 g for 1 h at 4 °C; the supernatant (mucus) was kept at -80 °C until use. The enzymatic (proteolytic and phospholipase A 2 ), inhibitory (metallo, cysteine and serine proteases), and hemagglutinating (human erythrocyte) activities were determined. The results showed high levels of cysteine and metallo proteases, intermediate levels of phosholipase A 2 , low levels of trypsin, and no elastase and chymotrypsin like activities. The mucus showed potent inhibitory activity on snake venom metalloproteases and cysteine proteinase papain. In addition, it showed agglutinating activity towards O + , B + , and A + erythrocyte types. The hemostatic results showed that the mucus prolongs the aPTT and PT, and strongly inhibited platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid, collagen, epinephrine, ADP, and thrombin. The antimicrobial activity was tested on 15 strains of bacteria and fungi through the radial diffusion assay in agar, and no activity was observed. Compounds in P. caribaeorum mucus were analyzed for the first time in this study, and our results show potential pharmacological activities in these compounds, which are relevant for use in physiopathological investigations. However, the demonstration of these activities indicates caution in the use of crude mucus in folk medicine. Furthermore, the present or absent activities identified in this mucus suggest that the studied P. caribaeorum colonies were in thermal stress conditions at the time of sample collection; these conditions may precede the bleaching

Epizoanthus spp. associations revealed using DNA markers: a case study from Kochi, Japan.

PubMed

Reimer, James Davis; Hirose, Mamiko; Nishisaka, Taiki; Sinniger, Frederic; Itani, Gyo

2010-09-01

Zoanthids (Cnidaria, Hexacorallia) of the genus Epizoanthus are often found in association with other marine invertebrates, including gastropods and hermit crabs. However, little information exists on the specificity and nature of these associations due to a lack of investigation into Epizoanthus species diversity, and the taxonomy of Epizoanthus is therefore confused. In this study, analyses of morphological data (tentacle number, polyp size, etc) and molecular data (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 = COI, 16S ribosomal DNA = 16S rDNA) were used to examine Epizoanthus specimens from Tosa Bay, Kochi, Japan. The Epizoanthus specimens were found on both live gastropods (Gemmula unedo) and hermit crabs (Paguristes palythophilus) inhabiting G. unedo and G. cosmoi shells. While morphological analyses did not show clear differences between examined specimens, both COI and mt 16S rDNA clearly divided the specimens into two groups, one associated only with hermit crabs (= Epizoanthus sp. C), and another associated only with living gastropods (= Epizoanthus sp. S). Unexpectedly, DNA sequences from both groups did not match with two previously reported Epizoanthus species from Japan (E. indicus, E. ramosus), indicating they both may be undescribed species. These results highlight the utility of DNA "barcoding" of unknown zoanthids, and will provide a foundation for re-examinations of Epizoanthus species diversity and specificity, which will be critical in understanding the evolution of these unique marine invertebrates.

Multiplexed pyrosequencing of nine sea anemone (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia: Actiniaria) mitochondrial genomes.

PubMed

Foox, Jonathan; Brugler, Mercer; Siddall, Mark Edward; Rodríguez, Estefanía

2016-07-01

Six complete and three partial actiniarian mitochondrial genomes were amplified in two semi-circles using long-range PCR and pyrosequenced in a single run on a 454 GS Junior, doubling the number of complete mitogenomes available within the order. Typical metazoan mtDNA features included circularity, 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and length ranging from 17,498 to 19,727 bp. Several typical anthozoan mitochondrial genome features were also observed including the presence of only two transfer RNA genes, elevated A + T richness ranging from 54.9 to 62.4%, large intergenic regions, and group 1 introns interrupting NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, the latter of which possesses a homing endonuclease gene. Within the sea anemone Alicia sansibarensis, we report the first mitochondrial gene order rearrangement within the Actiniaria, as well as putative novel non-canonical protein-coding genes. Phylogenetic analyses of all 13 protein-coding and 2 ribosomal genes largely corroborated current hypotheses of sea anemone interrelatedness, with a few lower-level differences.

The order Zoantharia Rafinesque, 1815 (Cnidaria, Anthozoa: Hexacorallia): supraspecific classification and nomenclature

PubMed Central

Low, Martyn E. Y.; Sinniger, Frederic; Reimer, James Davis

2016-01-01

Abstract Many supraspecific zoantharian names have long and complicated histories. The present list is provided to advise researchers on the current state of supraspecific nomenclature of the zoantharians, particularly given the recent attention paid to the taxonomy, phylogeny, and biodiversity of this order. At the same time, several taxonomic issues brought to light by recent research are resolved. Details on the taxonomic and nomenclatural history of most groups are provided, along with appendices of invalid supraspecific names. PMID:28138291

Phylogenomic Analyses Support Traditional Relationships within Cnidaria

PubMed Central

Zapata, Felipe; Goetz, Freya E.; Smith, Stephen A.; Howison, Mark; Siebert, Stefan; Church, Samuel H.; Sanders, Steven M.; Ames, Cheryl Lewis; McFadden, Catherine S.; France, Scott C.; Daly, Marymegan; Collins, Allen G.; Haddock, Steven H. D.; Dunn, Casey W.; Cartwright, Paulyn

2015-01-01

Cnidaria, the sister group to Bilateria, is a highly diverse group of animals in terms of morphology, lifecycles, ecology, and development. How this diversity originated and evolved is not well understood because phylogenetic relationships among major cnidarian lineages are unclear, and recent studies present contrasting phylogenetic hypotheses. Here, we use transcriptome data from 15 newly-sequenced species in combination with 26 publicly available genomes and transcriptomes to assess phylogenetic relationships among major cnidarian lineages. Phylogenetic analyses using different partition schemes and models of molecular evolution, as well as topology tests for alternative phylogenetic relationships, support the monophyly of Medusozoa, Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Hydrozoa, and a clade consisting of Staurozoa, Cubozoa, and Scyphozoa. Support for the monophyly of Hexacorallia is weak due to the equivocal position of Ceriantharia. Taken together, these results further resolve deep cnidarian relationships, largely support traditional phylogenetic views on relationships, and provide a historical framework for studying the evolutionary processes involved in one of the most ancient animal radiations. PMID:26465609

Phylogenomic Analyses Support Traditional Relationships within Cnidaria.

PubMed

Zapata, Felipe; Goetz, Freya E; Smith, Stephen A; Howison, Mark; Siebert, Stefan; Church, Samuel H; Sanders, Steven M; Ames, Cheryl Lewis; McFadden, Catherine S; France, Scott C; Daly, Marymegan; Collins, Allen G; Haddock, Steven H D; Dunn, Casey W; Cartwright, Paulyn

2015-01-01

Cnidaria, the sister group to Bilateria, is a highly diverse group of animals in terms of morphology, lifecycles, ecology, and development. How this diversity originated and evolved is not well understood because phylogenetic relationships among major cnidarian lineages are unclear, and recent studies present contrasting phylogenetic hypotheses. Here, we use transcriptome data from 15 newly-sequenced species in combination with 26 publicly available genomes and transcriptomes to assess phylogenetic relationships among major cnidarian lineages. Phylogenetic analyses using different partition schemes and models of molecular evolution, as well as topology tests for alternative phylogenetic relationships, support the monophyly of Medusozoa, Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Hydrozoa, and a clade consisting of Staurozoa, Cubozoa, and Scyphozoa. Support for the monophyly of Hexacorallia is weak due to the equivocal position of Ceriantharia. Taken together, these results further resolve deep cnidarian relationships, largely support traditional phylogenetic views on relationships, and provide a historical framework for studying the evolutionary processes involved in one of the most ancient animal radiations.

Cnidarian phylogenetic relationships as revealed by mitogenomics

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Cnidaria (corals, sea anemones, hydroids, jellyfish) is a phylum of relatively simple aquatic animals characterized by the presence of the cnidocyst: a cell containing a giant capsular organelle with an eversible tubule (cnida). Species within Cnidaria have life cycles that involve one or both of the two distinct body forms, a typically benthic polyp, which may or may not be colonial, and a typically pelagic mostly solitary medusa. The currently accepted taxonomic scheme subdivides Cnidaria into two main assemblages: Anthozoa (Hexacorallia + Octocorallia) – cnidarians with a reproductive polyp and the absence of a medusa stage – and Medusozoa (Cubozoa, Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, Staurozoa) – cnidarians that usually possess a reproductive medusa stage. Hypothesized relationships among these taxa greatly impact interpretations of cnidarian character evolution. Results We expanded the sampling of cnidarian mitochondrial genomes, particularly from Medusozoa, to reevaluate phylogenetic relationships within Cnidaria. Our phylogenetic analyses based on a mitochogenomic dataset support many prior hypotheses, including monophyly of Hexacorallia, Octocorallia, Medusozoa, Cubozoa, Staurozoa, Hydrozoa, Carybdeida, Chirodropida, and Hydroidolina, but reject the monophyly of Anthozoa, indicating that the Octocorallia + Medusozoa relationship is not the result of sampling bias, as proposed earlier. Further, our analyses contradict Scyphozoa [Discomedusae + Coronatae], Acraspeda [Cubozoa + Scyphozoa], as well as the hypothesis that Staurozoa is the sister group to all the other medusozoans. Conclusions Cnidarian mitochondrial genomic data contain phylogenetic signal informative for understanding the evolutionary history of this phylum. Mitogenome-based phylogenies, which reject the monophyly of Anthozoa, provide further evidence for the polyp-first hypothesis. By rejecting the traditional Acraspeda and Scyphozoa hypotheses, these analyses suggest that

Anti-Dengue Virus Constituents from Formosan Zoanthid Palythoa mutuki

PubMed Central

Lee, Jin-Ching; Chang, Fang-Rong; Chen, Shu-Rong; Wu, Yu-Hsuan; Hu, Hao-Chun; Wu, Yang-Chang; Backlund, Anders; Cheng, Yuan-Bin

2016-01-01

A new marine ecdysteroid with an α-hydroxy group attaching at C-4 instead of attaching at C-2 and C-3, named palythone A (1), together with eight known compounds (2–9) were obtained from the ethanolic extract of the Formosan zoanthid Palythoa mutuki. The structures of those compounds were mainly determined by NMR spectroscopic data analyses. The absolute configuration of 1 was further confirmed by comparing experimental and calculated circular dichroism (CD) spectra. Anti-dengue virus 2 activity and cytotoxicity of five isolated compounds were evaluated using virus infectious system and [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt (MTS) assays, respectively. As a result, peridinin (9) exhibited strong antiviral activity (IC50 = 4.50 ± 0.46 μg/mL), which is better than that of the positive control, 2′CMC. It is the first carotene-like substance possessing anti-dengue virus activity. In addition, the structural diversity and bioactivity of the isolates were compared by using a ChemGPS–NP computational analysis. The ChemGPS–NP data suggested natural products with anti-dengue virus activity locate closely in the chemical space. PMID:27517937

Correlated evolution of sex and reproductive mode in corals (Anthozoa: Scleractinia).

PubMed

Kerr, Alexander M; Baird, Andrew H; Hughes, Terry P

2011-01-07

Sexuality and reproductive mode are two fundamental life-history traits that exhibit largely unexplained macroevolutionary patterns among the major groups of multicellular organisms. For example, the cnidarian class Anthozoa (corals and anemones) is mainly comprised of gonochoric (separate sex) brooders or spawners, while one order, Scleractinia (skeleton-forming corals), appears to be mostly hermaphroditic spawners. Here, using the most complete phylogeny of scleractinians, we reconstruct how evolutionary transitions between sexual systems (gonochorism versus hermaphrodism) and reproductive modes (brooding versus spawning) have generated large-scale taxonomic patterns in these characters. Hermaphrodites have independently evolved in three large, distantly related lineages consisting of mostly reef-building species. Reproductive mode in corals has evolved at twice the rate of sexuality, while the evolution of sexuality has been heavily biased: gonochorism is over 100 times more likely to be lost than gained, and can only be acquired by brooders. This circuitous evolutionary pathway accounts for the prevalence of hermaphroditic spawners among reef-forming scleractinians, despite their ancient gonochoric heritage.

Correlated evolution of sex and reproductive mode in corals (Anthozoa: Scleractinia)

PubMed Central

Kerr, Alexander M.; Baird, Andrew H.; Hughes, Terry P.

2011-01-01

Sexuality and reproductive mode are two fundamental life-history traits that exhibit largely unexplained macroevolutionary patterns among the major groups of multicellular organisms. For example, the cnidarian class Anthozoa (corals and anemones) is mainly comprised of gonochoric (separate sex) brooders or spawners, while one order, Scleractinia (skeleton-forming corals), appears to be mostly hermaphroditic spawners. Here, using the most complete phylogeny of scleractinians, we reconstruct how evolutionary transitions between sexual systems (gonochorism versus hermaphrodism) and reproductive modes (brooding versus spawning) have generated large-scale taxonomic patterns in these characters. Hermaphrodites have independently evolved in three large, distantly related lineages consisting of mostly reef-building species. Reproductive mode in corals has evolved at twice the rate of sexuality, while the evolution of sexuality has been heavily biased: gonochorism is over 100 times more likely to be lost than gained, and can only be acquired by brooders. This circuitous evolutionary pathway accounts for the prevalence of hermaphroditic spawners among reef-forming scleractinians, despite their ancient gonochoric heritage. PMID:20659935

Evolutionary origins of germline segregation in Metazoa: evidence for a germ stem cell lineage in the coral Orbicella faveolata (Cnidaria, Anthozoa).

PubMed

Barfield, Sarah; Aglyamova, Galina V; Matz, Mikhail V

2016-01-13

The ability to segregate a committed germ stem cell (GSC) lineage distinct from somatic cell lineages is a characteristic of bilaterian Metazoans. However, the occurrence of GSC lineage specification in basally branching Metazoan phyla, such as Cnidaria, is uncertain. Without an independently segregated GSC lineage, germ cells and their precursors must be specified throughout adulthood from continuously dividing somatic stem cells, generating the risk of propagating somatic mutations within the individual and its gametes. To address the potential for existence of a GSC lineage in Anthozoa, the sister-group to all remaining Cnidaria, we identified moderate- to high-frequency somatic mutations and their potential for gametic transfer in the long-lived coral Orbicella faveolata (Anthozoa, Cnidaria) using a 2b-RAD sequencing approach. Our results demonstrate that somatic mutations can drift to high frequencies (up to 50%) and can also generate substantial intracolonial genetic diversity. However, these somatic mutations are not transferable to gametes, signifying the potential for an independently segregated GSC lineage in O. faveolata. In conjunction with previous research on germ cell development in other basally branching Metazoan species, our results suggest that the GSC system may be a Eumetazoan characteristic that evolved in association with the emergence of greater complexity in animal body plan organization and greater specificity of stem cell functions. © 2016 The Author(s).

Evolutionary origins of germline segregation in Metazoa: evidence for a germ stem cell lineage in the coral Orbicella faveolata (Cnidaria, Anthozoa)

PubMed Central

Barfield, Sarah; Aglyamova, Galina V.; Matz, Mikhail V.

2016-01-01

The ability to segregate a committed germ stem cell (GSC) lineage distinct from somatic cell lineages is a characteristic of bilaterian Metazoans. However, the occurrence of GSC lineage specification in basally branching Metazoan phyla, such as Cnidaria, is uncertain. Without an independently segregated GSC lineage, germ cells and their precursors must be specified throughout adulthood from continuously dividing somatic stem cells, generating the risk of propagating somatic mutations within the individual and its gametes. To address the potential for existence of a GSC lineage in Anthozoa, the sister-group to all remaining Cnidaria, we identified moderate- to high-frequency somatic mutations and their potential for gametic transfer in the long-lived coral Orbicella faveolata (Anthozoa, Cnidaria) using a 2b-RAD sequencing approach. Our results demonstrate that somatic mutations can drift to high frequencies (up to 50%) and can also generate substantial intracolonial genetic diversity. However, these somatic mutations are not transferable to gametes, signifying the potential for an independently segregated GSC lineage in O. faveolata. In conjunction with previous research on germ cell development in other basally branching Metazoan species, our results suggest that the GSC system may be a Eumetazoan characteristic that evolved in association with the emergence of greater complexity in animal body plan organization and greater specificity of stem cell functions. PMID:26763699

Acidobacteria appear to dominate the microbiome of two sympatric Caribbean Sponges and one Zoanthid.

PubMed

O'Connor-Sánchez, Aileen; Rivera-Domínguez, Adán J; Santos-Briones, César de los; López-Aguiar, Lluvia K; Peña-Ramírez, Yuri J; Prieto-Davo, Alejandra

2014-12-10

Marine invertebrate-associated microbial communities are interesting examples of complex symbiotic systems and are a potential source of biotechnological products. In this work, pyrosequencing-based assessment from bacterial community structures of sediments, two sponges, and one zoanthid collected in the Mexican Caribbean was performed. The results suggest that the bacterial diversity at the species level is higher in the sediments than in the animal samples. Analysis of bacterial communities' structure showed that about two thirds of the bacterial diversity in all the samples belongs to the phyla Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria. The genus Acidobacterium appears to dominate the bacterial community in all the samples, reaching almost 80% in the sponge Hyrtios. Our evidence suggests that the sympatric location of these benthonic species may lead to common bacterial structure features among their bacterial communities. The results may serve as a first insight to formulate hypotheses that lead to more extensive studies of sessile marine organisms' microbiomes from the Mexican Caribbean.

Sea Anemone (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Actiniaria) Toxins: An Overview

PubMed Central

Frazão, Bárbara; Vasconcelos, Vitor; Antunes, Agostinho

2012-01-01

The Cnidaria phylum includes organisms that are among the most venomous animals. The Anthozoa class includes sea anemones, hard corals, soft corals and sea pens. The composition of cnidarian venoms is not known in detail, but they appear to contain a variety of compounds. Currently around 250 of those compounds have been identified (peptides, proteins, enzymes and proteinase inhibitors) and non-proteinaceous substances (purines, quaternary ammonium compounds, biogenic amines and betaines), but very few genes encoding toxins were described and only a few related protein three-dimensional structures are available. Toxins are used for prey acquisition, but also to deter potential predators (with neurotoxicity and cardiotoxicity effects) and even to fight territorial disputes. Cnidaria toxins have been identified on the nematocysts located on the tentacles, acrorhagi and acontia, and in the mucous coat that covers the animal body. Sea anemone toxins comprise mainly proteins and peptides that are cytolytic or neurotoxic with its potency varying with the structure and site of action and are efficient in targeting different animals, such as insects, crustaceans and vertebrates. Sea anemones toxins include voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels toxins, acid-sensing ion channel toxins, Cytolysins, toxins with Kunitz-type protease inhibitors activity and toxins with Phospholipase A2 activity. In this review we assessed the phylogentic relationships of sea anemone toxins, characterized such toxins, the genes encoding them and the toxins three-dimensional structures, further providing a state-of-the-art description of the procedures involved in the isolation and purification of bioactive toxins. PMID:23015776

Sea anemone (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Actiniaria) toxins: an overview.

PubMed

Frazão, Bárbara; Vasconcelos, Vitor; Antunes, Agostinho

2012-08-01

The Cnidaria phylum includes organisms that are among the most venomous animals. The Anthozoa class includes sea anemones, hard corals, soft corals and sea pens. The composition of cnidarian venoms is not known in detail, but they appear to contain a variety of compounds. Currently around 250 of those compounds have been identified (peptides, proteins, enzymes and proteinase inhibitors) and non-proteinaceous substances (purines, quaternary ammonium compounds, biogenic amines and betaines), but very few genes encoding toxins were described and only a few related protein three-dimensional structures are available. Toxins are used for prey acquisition, but also to deter potential predators (with neurotoxicity and cardiotoxicity effects) and even to fight territorial disputes. Cnidaria toxins have been identified on the nematocysts located on the tentacles, acrorhagi and acontia, and in the mucous coat that covers the animal body. Sea anemone toxins comprise mainly proteins and peptides that are cytolytic or neurotoxic with its potency varying with the structure and site of action and are efficient in targeting different animals, such as insects, crustaceans and vertebrates. Sea anemones toxins include voltage-gated Na⁺ and K⁺ channels toxins, acid-sensing ion channel toxins, Cytolysins, toxins with Kunitz-type protease inhibitors activity and toxins with Phospholipase A2 activity. In this review we assessed the phylogentic relationships of sea anemone toxins, characterized such toxins, the genes encoding them and the toxins three-dimensional structures, further providing a state-of-the-art description of the procedures involved in the isolation and purification of bioactive toxins.

Catalog to families, genera, and species of orders Actiniaria and Corallimorpharia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa).

PubMed

Fautin, Daphne Gail

2016-08-01

This book inventories all available (and some unavailable) names in the family, genus, and species groups of extant members of orders Actiniaria and Corallimorpharia [cnidarian subclass Hexacorallia (Zoantharia) of class Anthozoa], providing a benchmark of names, their status, and taxon membership. I have attempted to make the compilation complete as of 2010; some names created after 2010 are included. The book is derived from a database I compiled that was available through a website. Most of the book is from the literature that defines taxa and documents their geographic distribution-primarily publications on nomenclature, taxonomy, and biogeography, but also some on ecology, pharmacology, reproductive biology, physiology, etc. of anemones (the common name for these groups); the reference section comprises 845 entries. As for previous anemone catalogs, this contains taxonomic as well as nomenclatural information,  the former based on subjective opinion of working biologists, the latter objectively verifiable and unchanging (except by action of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature).        Each family-group name, genus-group name, and original combination for species-group names has an entry. The entry contains the bibliographic reference to the publication in which each name was made available. This book contains for Corallimorpharia seven family names (four considered valid [57%]), 20 generic names (10 considered valid [50%] and one unavailable), and 65 species names (46 considered valid [70%]). It contains for Actiniaria 86 family names (50 considered valid [58%] and three unavailable), 447 generic names (264 considered valid [59%] and two unavailable), and 1427 species names (1101 considered valid [77%] and nine unavailable). Type specimens are inventoried from more than 50 natural history museums in Africa, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and North America, including those with the largest collections of anemones; the geographic

Effects of crude oil on the feeding behaviour of the zoanthid Palythoa variabilis.

PubMed

Reimer, A A

1975-01-01

Palythoa variabilis (Duerden 1898) has a well-coordinated, sterotyped feeding response similar to that described for other zoanthids. The feeding reaction can be elicited by the heterocyclic amino acid proline and by some of its analogs. The addition of an OH group (hydroxyproline) or of a glycyl group (prolylglycine) annuls the activity of the proline molecule. Substitutions (thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid) or additions (glycylproline) to the amino group do not alter the effectivity of the activator. The size of the ring can be altered within certain limits (azetidine-2-carbocylic acid and pipecolic acid) without affecting the activity of the molecule. Feeding reactions culminating with ingestion can be elicited by Marine Diesel and Bunker-C oils. Exposure to oil affects the ability of polyps to discriminate between inert and chemically active particles for 3 to 5 days; responses to proline are not altered for at least 3 days following the exposure, but become slower and are present in fewer polyps after that period. Oil is retained in the coelenteron for several days following exposure and is periodically released in the form of timy droplets.

Palyosulfonoceramides A and B: Unique Sulfonylated Ceramides from the Brazilian Zoanthids Palythoa caribaeorum and Protopalyhtoa variabilis

PubMed Central

Almeida, Jose Gustavo L.; Maia, Ana Isabel V.; Wilke, Diego V.; Silveira, Edilberto R.; Braz-Filho, Raimundo; La Clair, James J.; Costa-Lotufo, Leticia V.; Pessoa, Otília Deusdenia L.

2012-01-01

The zoanthids Palythoa caribaeorum and Protopalythoa variabilis are among the most abundant marine species along the Brazilian coast. We now report the isolation and structure elucidation of two unprecedented sulfonylated ceramides, palyosulfonoceramide A (1) and palyosulfonoceramide B (2) from specimens collected off Brazil’s northeastern coast. The structures of 1 and 2 were established using a combination of NMR analyses, including: evaluation of 1H, 13C, 1H–1H COSY, 1H–13C HSQC, 1H–13C HMBC, and 1H–15N HMBC NMR spectra, high-resolution mass spectrometry and chemical degradation. In addition, we also isolated the corresponding known ceramides, N-((2S,3R,4E,8E)-1,3-dihydroxyoctadeca-4,8-dien-2-yl)-hexadecanamide (3) and N-((2S,3R,4E)-1,3-dihydroxyoctadeca-4-en-2-yl)-hexadecanamide (4), which provided further support for the assignments of 1 and 2. PMID:23242205

Palyosulfonoceramides A and B: unique sulfonylated ceramides from the Brazilian zoanthids Palythoa caribaeorum and Protopalythoa variabilis.

PubMed

Almeida, Jose Gustavo L; Maia, Ana Isabel V; Wilke, Diego V; Silveira, Edilberto R; Braz-Filho, Raimundo; La Clair, James J; Costa-Lotufo, Leticia V; Pessoa, Otília Deusdenia L

2012-12-14

The zoanthids Palythoa caribaeorum and Protopalythoa variabilis are among the most abundant marine species along the Brazilian coast. We now report the isolation and structure elucidation of two unprecedented sulfonylated ceramides, palyosulfonoceramide A (1) and palyosulfonoceramide B (2) from specimens collected off Brazil's northeastern coast. The structures of 1 and 2 were established using a combination of NMR analyses, including: evaluation of 1H, 13C, ¹H--¹H COSY, ¹H--¹³C HSQC, ¹H--¹³C HMBC, and ¹H--¹⁵N HMBC NMR spectra, high-resolution mass spectrometry and chemical degradation. In addition, we also isolated the corresponding known ceramides, N-((2S,3R,4E,8E)-1, 3-dihydroxyoctadeca-4,8-dien-2-yl)-hexadecanamide (3) and N-((2S,3R,4E)-1,3-dihydroxy octadeca-4-en-2-yl)-hexadecanamide (4), which provided further support for the assignments of 1 and 2.

Reproductive biology of Palythoa caribaeorum and Protopalythoa valilbilis (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Zoanthidea) from the southeastern coast of Brazil.

PubMed

Boscolo, H K; Silveira, F L

2005-02-01

The reproductive biology of Palythoa caribaeorum (Duchassaing & Michelotti 1860) and Protopalythoa variabilis (Duerden 1898) was studied through monthly samples from tagged colonies from June 1996 to June 1997, in Sao Sebastiao channel, São Paulo, Brazil (45 degrees 26'W, 23 degrees 50'S). The gametogenesis was similar to that of other zoanthids as shown by histological preparations. Oocyte diameters and maturation stages of testis vesicles were evaluated on squash preparations. Both species showed sequential protogynic hermaphroditism, with high frequency of fertile polyps (83% in P. variabilis and 72% in P. caribaeorun), high frequency of colonies in female sex condition (65.3% of P variabilis and 41.7% of P caribaeorum), and apparently continuous gametogenesis. In P. caribaribaeonrum, egg release was continuous and sperm release took place during half of the analyzed period. In P. variabilis, egg and sperm release occurred in April-May and February-March 1997, respectively.

Functioning of Fluorescent Proteins in Aggregates in Anthozoa Species and in Recombinant Artificial Models

PubMed Central

Povarova, Natalia V.; Petri, Natalia D.; Blokhina, Anna E.; Bogdanov, Alexey M.; Lukyanov, Konstantin A.

2017-01-01

Despite great advances in practical applications of fluorescent proteins (FPs), their natural function is poorly understood. FPs display complex spatio-temporal expression patterns in living Anthozoa coral polyps. Here we applied confocal microscopy, specifically, the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) technique to analyze intracellular localization and mobility of endogenous FPs in live tissues. We observed three distinct types of protein distributions in living tissues. One type of distribution, characteristic for Anemonia, Discosoma and Zoanthus, is free, highly mobile cytoplasmic localization. Another pattern is seen in FPs localized to numerous intracellular vesicles, observed in Clavularia. The third most intriguing type of intracellular localization is with respect to the spindle-shaped aggregates and lozenge crystals several micrometers in size observed in Zoanthus samples. No protein mobility within those structures was detected by FRAP. This finding encouraged us to develop artificial aggregating FPs. We constructed “trio-FPs” consisting of three tandem copies of tetrameric FPs and demonstrated that they form multiple bright foci upon expression in mammalian cells. High brightness of the aggregates is advantageous for early detection of weak promoter activities. Simultaneously, larger aggregates can induce significant cytostatic and cytotoxic effects and thus such tags are not suitable for long-term and high-level expression. PMID:28704934

Size-defined morphotypes in Zoanthus (Hexacorallia: Zoantharia) populations on shores in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

PubMed

Ryland, John S

2015-07-17

Colonial zoanthids are a conspicuous feature of the subtropical rocky intertidal in KwaZulu-Natal but those of the genus Zoanthus have a confused taxonomy with 10, difficult to separate, nominal species described from the region. This paper presents an analysis of polyp size, measured as mean diameter determined photographically from the number of polyps occupying an area of 6 × 4 cm(2). The results, based on diameter frequency of 127 samples from five shores, indicate three populations (morphotypes) with means of 4.3 (SD ±0.53), 5.7 (SD ±0.70) and 8.4 (SD ±0.58) mm occurring in the approximate abundance ratios of 10:5:1, possibly corresponding to Zoanthus sansibaricus, Z. natalensis and Z. lawrencei. The underlying assumptions with regard to population structure (the number, size and degree of fragmentation of clones) and the normality of data are discussed, as are trans-oceanic larval dispersal, recruitment, and genetic connectivity. The essential, traditional species description in Zoanthus, using internal morphology, on its own may be an inadequate discriminator of species. The status of the few possibly valid species is discussed in relation to the present results and recent studies based on the application of molecular genetics. Thorough studies of the population structure (genets and ramets) and a taxonomic approach based on the combined use of morphology, genetic methods and statistically robust, quantitative morphometrics are proposed as a potential way forward.

Unexpected diversity and a new species of Epizoanthus (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) attached to eunicid worm tubes from the Pacific Ocean

PubMed Central

Kise, Hiroki; Reimer, James Davis

2016-01-01

Abstract Epizoanthus species are generally found in association with other marine invertebrates such as hermit crabs and gastropods. Although Epizoanthus spp. are relatively common, there is limited information about their diversity and ecology due to their habitats or hosts, often being below the depths of SCUBA diving (>~50 m). In particular, the Epizoanthus fauna of the Indo-Pacific Ocean remains poorly understood. In this study, the diversity of Epizoanthus species associated with eunicid worm tubes from shallow waters in the Pacific Ocean we investigated using molecular analyses (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 = COI, mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA = mt 16S-rDNA, nuclear internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA = ITS-rDNA) combined with morphological and ecological data. The combined data set leads us to describe two new species; Epizoanthus inazuma sp. n. and Epizoanthus beriber sp. n. Both new species are found in low-light environments: Epizoanthus inazuma sp. n. on mesophotic coral reef slopes and reef floors, or on the sides of overhangs; Epizoanthus beriber sp. n. has only been found in caves. Morphological characteristics of these two new species are very similar to Epizoanthus illoricatus Tischbierek, 1930 but the two new species are genetically distinct. Mesentery numbers and coloration of polyps may be useful diagnostic characteristics among eunicid-associated Epizoanthus species. These results demonstrate that there is high potential for other potentially undescribed zoantharian species, particularly in underwater cave habitats. PMID:27006621

INTERSPECIFIC AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR OF THE CORALLIMORPHARIAN CORYNACTIS CALIFORNICA (CNIDARIA: ANTHOZOA): EFFECTS ON SYMPATRIC CORALS AND SEA ANEMONES.

PubMed

Chadwick, Nanette E

1987-08-01

Corallimorpharians are sessile cnidarians that are morphologically similar to the actiniarian sea anemones and scleractinian corals. This study describes for the first time the behavioral mechanism and effects of aggression by a corallimorpharian. Polyps of the temperate clonal corallimorpharian Corynactis californica extruded their mesenteries and associated filaments onto members of certain species of sea anemones and corals. They did not exhibit this behavior intraspecifically, and members of different clones of C. californica remained expanded upon contact. In contrast, members of four species of corals and zoanthids responded to contact with C. californica by contracting their tentacles, and members of three sea anemone species bent or moved away, detached from the substrate, or attacked using their aggressive structures. When interspecific contact was prolonged, individuals of C. californica extruded filaments onto, and killed polyps of, the sea anemones Anthopleura elegantissima and Metridium senile within 3 weeks, and the corals Astrangia lajollaensis and Balanophyllia elegans within 4-10 months under laboratory conditions. The use of extruded mesenterial filaments by C. californica to attack members of other anthozoan species is similar to the aggressive behavior exhibited by many scleractinian reef corals. Field observations suggest that C. californica may use this agonistic behavior during interspecific competition for space on hard marine substrate.

Naked corals: Skeleton loss in Scleractinia

PubMed Central

Medina, Mónica; Collins, Allen G.; Takaoka, Tori L.; Kuehl, Jennifer V.; Boore, Jeffrey L.

2006-01-01

Stony corals, which form the framework for modern reefs, are classified as Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, and Hexacorallia) in reference to their external aragonitic skeletons. However, persistent notions, collectively known as the “naked coral” hypothesis, hold that the scleractinian skeleton does not define a natural group. Three main lines of evidence have suggested that some stony corals are more closely related to one or more of the soft-bodied hexacorallian groups than they are to other scleractinians: (i) morphological similarities; (ii) lack of phylogenetic resolution in molecular analyses of scleractinians; and (iii) discrepancy between the commencement of a diverse scleractinian fossil record at 240 million years ago (Ma) and a molecule-based origination of at least 300 Ma. No molecular evidence has been able to clearly reveal relationships at the base of a well supported clade composed of scleractinian lineages and the nonskeletonized Corallimorpharia. We present complete mitochondrial genome data that provide strong evidence that one clade of scleractinians is more closely related to Corallimorpharia than it is to a another clade of scleractinians. Thus, the scleractinian skeleton, which we estimate to have originated between 240 and 288 Ma, was likely lost in the ancestry of Corallimorpharia. We estimate that Corallimorpharia originated between 110 and 132 Ma during the late- to mid-Cretaceous, coinciding with high levels of oceanic CO2, which would have impacted aragonite solubility. Corallimorpharians escaped extinction from aragonite skeletal dissolution, but some modern stony corals may not have such fortunate fates under the pressure of increased anthropogenic CO2 in the ocean. PMID:16754865

The effect of climate change on the distribution of a tropical zoanthid (Palythoa caribaeorum) and its ecological implications.

PubMed

Durante, Leonardo M; Cruz, Igor C S; Lotufo, Tito M C

2018-01-01

Palythoa caribaeorum is a zoanthid often dominant in shallow rocky environments along the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean, from the tropics to the subtropics. This species has high environmental tolerance and is a good space competitor in reef environments. Considering current and future scenarios in the global climate regime, this study aimed to model and analyze the distribution of P. caribaeorum , generating maps of potential distribution for the present and the year 2100. The distribution was modeled using maximum entropy (Maxent) based on 327 occurrence sites retrieved from the literature. Calcite concentration, maximum chlorophyll- a concentration, salinity, pH, and temperature range yielded a model with the smallest Akaike information criterion (2649.8), and were used in the present and future distribution model. Data from the HadGEM2-ES climate model were used to generate the projections for the year 2100. The present distribution of P. caribaeorum shows that parts of the Brazilian coast, Caribbean Sea, and Florida are suitable regions for the species, as they are characterized by high salinity and pH and small temperature variation. An expansion of the species' distribution was forecast northward under mild climate scenarios, while a decrease of suitable areas was forecast in the south. In the climate scenario with the most intense changes, P. caribaeorum would lose one-half of its suitable habitats, including the northernmost and southernmost areas of its distribution. The Caribbean Sea and northeastern Brazil, as well as other places under the influence of coastal upwellings, may serve as potential havens for this species.

The effect of climate change on the distribution of a tropical zoanthid (Palythoa caribaeorum) and its ecological implications

PubMed Central

Cruz, Igor C.S.

2018-01-01

Palythoa caribaeorum is a zoanthid often dominant in shallow rocky environments along the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean, from the tropics to the subtropics. This species has high environmental tolerance and is a good space competitor in reef environments. Considering current and future scenarios in the global climate regime, this study aimed to model and analyze the distribution of P. caribaeorum, generating maps of potential distribution for the present and the year 2100. The distribution was modeled using maximum entropy (Maxent) based on 327 occurrence sites retrieved from the literature. Calcite concentration, maximum chlorophyll-a concentration, salinity, pH, and temperature range yielded a model with the smallest Akaike information criterion (2649.8), and were used in the present and future distribution model. Data from the HadGEM2-ES climate model were used to generate the projections for the year 2100. The present distribution of P. caribaeorum shows that parts of the Brazilian coast, Caribbean Sea, and Florida are suitable regions for the species, as they are characterized by high salinity and pH and small temperature variation. An expansion of the species’ distribution was forecast northward under mild climate scenarios, while a decrease of suitable areas was forecast in the south. In the climate scenario with the most intense changes, P. caribaeorum would lose one-half of its suitable habitats, including the northernmost and southernmost areas of its distribution. The Caribbean Sea and northeastern Brazil, as well as other places under the influence of coastal upwellings, may serve as potential havens for this species. PMID:29785350

The Holo-Transcriptome of the Zoantharian Protopalythoa variabilis (Cnidaria: Anthozoa): A Plentiful Source of Enzymes for Potential Application in Green Chemistry, Industrial and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology.

PubMed

R L Morlighem, Jean-Étienne; Huang, Chen; Liao, Qiwen; Braga Gomes, Paula; Daniel Pérez, Carlos; de Brandão Prieto-da-Silva, Álvaro Rossan; Ming-Yuen Lee, Simon; Rádis-Baptista, Gandhi

2018-06-13

Marine invertebrates, such as sponges, tunicates and cnidarians (zoantharians and scleractinian corals), form functional assemblages, known as holobionts, with numerous microbes. This type of species-specific symbiotic association can be a repository of myriad valuable low molecular weight organic compounds, bioactive peptides and enzymes. The zoantharian Protopalythoa variabilis (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) is one such example of a marine holobiont that inhabits the coastal reefs of the tropical Atlantic coast and is an interesting source of secondary metabolites and biologically active polypeptides. In the present study, we analyzed the entire holo-transcriptome of P. variabilis , looking for enzyme precursors expressed in the zoantharian-microbiota assemblage that are potentially useful as industrial biocatalysts and biopharmaceuticals. In addition to hundreds of predicted enzymes that fit into the classes of hydrolases, oxidoreductases and transferases that were found, novel enzyme precursors with multiple activities in single structures and enzymes with incomplete Enzyme Commission numbers were revealed. Our results indicated the predictive expression of thirteen multifunctional enzymes and 694 enzyme sequences with partially characterized activities, distributed in 23 sub-subclasses. These predicted enzyme structures and activities can prospectively be harnessed for applications in diverse areas of industrial and pharmaceutical biotechnology.

Mitochondrial and Nuclear Genes Suggest that Stony Corals Are Monophyletic but Most Families of Stony Corals Are Not (Order Scleractinia, Class Anthozoa, Phylum Cnidaria)

PubMed Central

Fukami, Hironobu; Chen, Chaolun Allen; Budd, Ann F.; Collins, Allen; Wallace, Carden; Chuang, Yao-Yang; Chen, Chienhsun; Dai, Chang-Feng; Iwao, Kenji; Sheppard, Charles; Knowlton, Nancy

2008-01-01

Modern hard corals (Class Hexacorallia; Order Scleractinia) are widely studied because of their fundamental role in reef building and their superb fossil record extending back to the Triassic. Nevertheless, interpretations of their evolutionary relationships have been in flux for over a decade. Recent analyses undermine the legitimacy of traditional suborders, families and genera, and suggest that a non-skeletal sister clade (Order Corallimorpharia) might be imbedded within the stony corals. However, these studies either sampled a relatively limited array of taxa or assembled trees from heterogeneous data sets. Here we provide a more comprehensive analysis of Scleractinia (127 species, 75 genera, 17 families) and various outgroups, based on two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome oxidase I, cytochrome b), with analyses of nuclear genes (ß-tubulin, ribosomal DNA) of a subset of taxa to test unexpected relationships. Eleven of 16 families were found to be polyphyletic. Strikingly, over one third of all families as conventionally defined contain representatives from the highly divergent “robust” and “complex” clades. However, the recent suggestion that corallimorpharians are true corals that have lost their skeletons was not upheld. Relationships were supported not only by mitochondrial and nuclear genes, but also often by morphological characters which had been ignored or never noted previously. The concordance of molecular characters and more carefully examined morphological characters suggests a future of greater taxonomic stability, as well as the potential to trace the evolutionary history of this ecologically important group using fossils. PMID:18795098

Mitochondrial and nuclear genes suggest that stony corals are monophyletic but most families of stony corals are not (Order Scleractinia, Class Anthozoa, Phylum Cnidaria).

PubMed

Fukami, Hironobu; Chen, Chaolun Allen; Budd, Ann F; Collins, Allen; Wallace, Carden; Chuang, Yao-Yang; Chen, Chienhsun; Dai, Chang-Feng; Iwao, Kenji; Sheppard, Charles; Knowlton, Nancy

2008-09-16

Modern hard corals (Class Hexacorallia; Order Scleractinia) are widely studied because of their fundamental role in reef building and their superb fossil record extending back to the Triassic. Nevertheless, interpretations of their evolutionary relationships have been in flux for over a decade. Recent analyses undermine the legitimacy of traditional suborders, families and genera, and suggest that a non-skeletal sister clade (Order Corallimorpharia) might be imbedded within the stony corals. However, these studies either sampled a relatively limited array of taxa or assembled trees from heterogeneous data sets. Here we provide a more comprehensive analysis of Scleractinia (127 species, 75 genera, 17 families) and various outgroups, based on two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome oxidase I, cytochrome b), with analyses of nuclear genes (ss-tubulin, ribosomal DNA) of a subset of taxa to test unexpected relationships. Eleven of 16 families were found to be polyphyletic. Strikingly, over one third of all families as conventionally defined contain representatives from the highly divergent "robust" and "complex" clades. However, the recent suggestion that corallimorpharians are true corals that have lost their skeletons was not upheld. Relationships were supported not only by mitochondrial and nuclear genes, but also often by morphological characters which had been ignored or never noted previously. The concordance of molecular characters and more carefully examined morphological characters suggests a future of greater taxonomic stability, as well as the potential to trace the evolutionary history of this ecologically important group using fossils.

Pax gene diversity in the basal cnidarian Acropora millepora (Cnidaria, Anthozoa): Implications for the evolution of the Pax gene family

PubMed Central

Miller, David J.; Hayward, David C.; Reece-Hoyes, John S.; Scholten, Ingo; Catmull, Julian; Gehring, Walter J.; Callaerts, Patrick; Larsen, Jill E.; Ball, Eldon E.

2000-01-01

Pax genes encode a family of transcription factors, many of which play key roles in animal embryonic development but whose evolutionary relationships and ancestral functions are unclear. To address these issues, we are characterizing the Pax gene complement of the coral Acropora millepora, an anthozoan cnidarian. As the simplest animals at the tissue level of organization, cnidarians occupy a key position in animal evolution, and the Anthozoa are the basal class within this diverse phylum. We have identified four Pax genes in Acropora: two (Pax-Aam and Pax-Bam) are orthologs of genes identified in other cnidarians; the others (Pax-Cam and Pax-Dam) are unique to Acropora. Pax-Aam may be orthologous with Drosophila Pox neuro, and Pax-Bam clearly belongs to the Pax-2/5/8 class. The Pax-Bam Paired domain binds specifically and preferentially to Pax-2/5/8 binding sites. The recently identified Acropora gene Pax-Dam belongs to the Pax-3/7 class. Clearly, substantial diversification of the Pax family occurred before the Cnidaria/higher Metazoa split. The fourth Acropora Pax gene, Pax-Cam, may correspond to the ancestral vertebrate Pax gene and most closely resembles Pax-6. The expression pattern of Pax-Cam, in putative neurons, is consistent with an ancestral role of the Pax family in neural differentiation and patterning. We have determined the genomic structure of each Acropora Pax gene and show that some splice sites are shared both between the coral genes and between these and Pax genes in triploblastic metazoans. Together, these data support the monophyly of the Pax family and indicate ancient origins of several introns. PMID:10781047

Correlation of Coral Bleaching Events and Remotely-Sensed Sea Surface Temperatures

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-05-19

water column. Diving on the reefs, they found significant tracts of bleached corals, zoanthids , gorgonians, and sea anemones (Bunckley-Williams and... zoanthids between May and July 1988 on shallow lagoonal reefs and rim margin reefs was the first indication of any sort of bleaching event at Bermuda

Marine Biotoxins: Laboratory Culture and Molecular Structure

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-21

structure has been known for several years, has so far been isolated from toxic zoanthid corals, Palythoa spp. Preliminary evidence suggests that the...The molecular structure of palytoxin is known,8 but the suggestion 9 that the toxin is biosynthesized by an epiphyte of the zoanthid coaral has not

Marine Biotoxins: Laboratory Culture and Molecular Structure

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-11

has been known for several years. has so far been isolated from toxic zoanthid corals. Palv~tha sp. Preliminary evidence suggests that the producer of...epiphyte of the zoanthid coral has not been realized. C. Purpose of Present Work The purposes of this work are the successful culture of G_. toxicus

Azooxanthellate? Most Hawaiian black corals contain Symbiodinium.

PubMed

Wagner, Daniel; Pochon, Xavier; Irwin, Leslie; Toonen, Robert J; Gates, Ruth D

2011-05-07

The ecological success of shallow-water reef-building corals (Hexacorallia: Scleractinia) is framed by their intimate endosymbiosis with photosynthetic dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae). In contrast, the closely related black corals (Hexacorallia: Anthipatharia) are described as azooxanthellate (lacking Symbiodinium), a trait thought to reflect their preference for low-light environments that do not support photosynthesis. We examined 14 antipatharian species collected between 10 and 396 m from Hawai'i and Johnston Atoll for the presence of Symbiodinium using molecular typing and histology. Symbiodinium internal transcribed spacer-2 (ITS-2) region sequences were retrieved from 43 per cent of the antipatharian samples and 71 per cent of the examined species, and across the entire depth range. The ITS-2 sequences were identical or very similar to those commonly found in shallow-water scleractinian corals throughout the Pacific. Histological analyses revealed low densities of Symbiodinium cells inside antipatharian gastrodermal tissues (0-92 cells mm(-3)), suggesting that the Symbiodinium are endosymbiotic. These findings confirm that the capacity to engage in endosymbiosis with Symbiodinium is evolutionarily conserved across the cnidarian subclass Hexacorallia, and that antipatharians associate with Symbiodinium types found in shallow-water scleractinians. This study represents the deepest record for Symbiodinium to date, and suggests that some members of this dinoflagellate genus have extremely diverse habitat preferences and broad environmental ranges.

Evolutionary Diversification of Banded Tube-Dwelling Anemones (Cnidaria; Ceriantharia; Isarachnanthus) in the Atlantic Ocean

PubMed Central

Stampar, Sergio N.; Maronna, Maximiliano M.; Vermeij, Mark J. A.; Silveira, Fabio L. d.; Morandini, André C.

2012-01-01

The use of molecular data for species delimitation in Anthozoa is still a very delicate issue. This is probably due to the low genetic variation found among the molecular markers (primarily mitochondrial) commonly used for Anthozoa. Ceriantharia is an anthozoan group that has not been tested for genetic divergence at the species level. Recently, all three Atlantic species described for the genus Isarachnanthus of Atlantic Ocean, were deemed synonyms based on morphological simmilarities of only one species: Isarachnanthus maderensis. Here, we aimed to verify whether genetic relationships (using COI, 16S, ITS1 and ITS2 molecular markers) confirmed morphological affinities among members of Isarachnanthus from different regions across the Atlantic Ocean. Results from four DNA markers were completely congruent and revealed that two different species exist in the Atlantic Ocean. The low identification success and substantial overlap between intra and interspecific COI distances render the Anthozoa unsuitable for DNA barcoding, which is not true for Ceriantharia. In addition, genetic divergence within and between Ceriantharia species is more similar to that found in Medusozoa (Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa) than Anthozoa and Porifera that have divergence rates similar to typical metazoans. The two genetic species could also be separated based on micromorphological characteristics of their cnidomes. Using a specimen of Isarachnanthus bandanensis from Pacific Ocean as an outgroup, it was possible to estimate the minimum date of divergence between the clades. The cladogenesis event that formed the species of the Atlantic Ocean is estimated to have occured around 8.5 million years ago (Miocene) and several possible speciation scenarios are discussed. PMID:22815928

Evolutionary diversification of banded tube-dwelling anemones (Cnidaria; Ceriantharia; Isarachnanthus) in the Atlantic Ocean.

PubMed

Stampar, Sergio N; Maronna, Maximiliano M; Vermeij, Mark J A; Silveira, Fabio L d; Morandini, André C

2012-01-01

The use of molecular data for species delimitation in Anthozoa is still a very delicate issue. This is probably due to the low genetic variation found among the molecular markers (primarily mitochondrial) commonly used for Anthozoa. Ceriantharia is an anthozoan group that has not been tested for genetic divergence at the species level. Recently, all three Atlantic species described for the genus Isarachnanthus of Atlantic Ocean, were deemed synonyms based on morphological simmilarities of only one species: Isarachnanthus maderensis. Here, we aimed to verify whether genetic relationships (using COI, 16S, ITS1 and ITS2 molecular markers) confirmed morphological affinities among members of Isarachnanthus from different regions across the Atlantic Ocean. Results from four DNA markers were completely congruent and revealed that two different species exist in the Atlantic Ocean. The low identification success and substantial overlap between intra and interspecific COI distances render the Anthozoa unsuitable for DNA barcoding, which is not true for Ceriantharia. In addition, genetic divergence within and between Ceriantharia species is more similar to that found in Medusozoa (Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa) than Anthozoa and Porifera that have divergence rates similar to typical metazoans. The two genetic species could also be separated based on micromorphological characteristics of their cnidomes. Using a specimen of Isarachnanthus bandanensis from Pacific Ocean as an outgroup, it was possible to estimate the minimum date of divergence between the clades. The cladogenesis event that formed the species of the Atlantic Ocean is estimated to have occured around 8.5 million years ago (Miocene) and several possible speciation scenarios are discussed.

Genomic diversity of vibrios associated with the Brazilian coral Mussismilia hispida and its sympatric zoanthids (Palythoa caribaeorum, Palythoa variabilis and Zoanthus solanderi).

PubMed

Chimetto, L A; Brocchi, M; Gondo, M; Thompson, C C; Gomez-Gil, B; Thompson, F L

2009-06-01

A taxonomic survey of the vibrios associated with the Brazilian endemic coral Mussismilia hispida and the sympatric zoanthids (i.e. Palythoa caribaeorum, Palythoa variabilis and Zoanthus solanderi). Mucus of 54 cnidarian specimens collected in three different places at São Sebastião in two consecutive years (i.e. 2005 and 2006) was used for taxonomic characterization of the cnidarian microbiota. Ninety-eight of the 151 vibrio isolates fell within the vibrio core group according to partial 16S rDNA sequences. We performed the sequencing of recA and pyrH genes of all vibrio isolates. The most abundant taxa belonged to the vibrio core group (Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio rotiferianus, Vibrio campbellii and Vibrio alginolyticus), Vibrio mediterranei (=Vibrio shillonii) and Vibrio chagasii. With the exception of V. chagasii which was found only in the mucus of M. hispida, the other species appeared in different hosts with no evidence for the presence of host-specific clones or species. Using rep-PCR analysis, we observed a high genomic heterogeneity within the vibrios. Each vibrio isolate generated a different rep-PCR fingerprint pattern. There was a complete agreement between the grouping based on rep-PCR and concatenated sequences of pyrH, recA and 16S rDNA, but the pyrH gene has the highest discriminatory power for vibrio species identification. The vibrio core group is dominant in the mucus of these cnidarians. There is a tremendous diversity of vibrio lineages within the coral mucus. pyrH gene sequences permit a clear-cut identification of vibrios. The taxonomic resolution provided by pyrH (but not recA) appears to be enough for identifying species of vibrios and for disclosing putative new taxa. The vibrio core group appears to be dominant in the mucus of the Brazilian cnidarians. The overrepresentation of these vibrios may reflect as yet unknown ecological functions in the coral holobiont.

Activity of Palythoa caribaeorum Venom on Voltage-Gated Ion Channels in Mammalian Superior Cervical Ganglion Neurons.

PubMed

Lazcano-Pérez, Fernando; Castro, Héctor; Arenas, Isabel; García, David E; González-Muñoz, Ricardo; Arreguín-Espinosa, Roberto

2016-05-05

The Zoanthids are an order of cnidarians whose venoms and toxins have been poorly studied. Palythoa caribaeorum is a zoanthid commonly found around the Mexican coastline. In this study, we tested the activity of P. caribaeorum venom on voltage-gated sodium channel (NaV1.7), voltage-gated calcium channel (CaV2.2), the A-type transient outward (IA) and delayed rectifier (IDR) currents of KV channels of the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons of the rat. These results showed that the venom reversibly delays the inactivation process of voltage-gated sodium channels and inhibits voltage-gated calcium and potassium channels in this mammalian model. The compounds responsible for these effects seem to be low molecular weight peptides. Together, these results provide evidence for the potential use of zoanthids as a novel source of cnidarian toxins active on voltage-gated ion channels.

Activity of Palythoa caribaeorum Venom on Voltage-Gated Ion Channels in Mammalian Superior Cervical Ganglion Neurons

PubMed Central

Lazcano-Pérez, Fernando; Castro, Héctor; Arenas, Isabel; García, David E.; González-Muñoz, Ricardo; Arreguín-Espinosa, Roberto

2016-01-01

The Zoanthids are an order of cnidarians whose venoms and toxins have been poorly studied. Palythoa caribaeorum is a zoanthid commonly found around the Mexican coastline. In this study, we tested the activity of P. caribaeorum venom on voltage-gated sodium channel (NaV1.7), voltage-gated calcium channel (CaV2.2), the A-type transient outward (IA) and delayed rectifier (IDR) currents of KV channels of the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons of the rat. These results showed that the venom reversibly delays the inactivation process of voltage-gated sodium channels and inhibits voltage-gated calcium and potassium channels in this mammalian model. The compounds responsible for these effects seem to be low molecular weight peptides. Together, these results provide evidence for the potential use of zoanthids as a novel source of cnidarian toxins active on voltage-gated ion channels. PMID:27164140

Studies on the origin and distribution of palytoxin in a Caribbean coral reef.

PubMed

Gleibs, S; Mebs, D; Werding, B

1995-11-01

In coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea (Colombia) palytoxin (PTX) has been detected in zoanthid species of the genera Palythoa and Zoanthus by assaying the delayed haemolysis in human erythrocytes produced by aqueous extracts, which is inhibited by ouabain pretreatment, and by HPLC. The toxin content of the polyps and colonies is highly variable and is not correlated with their reproductive cycle or with the amount of symbiotic algae. Sequestration of PTX has been observed in crustaceans (Platypodiella sp.) living in close association with Palythoa colonies and in polychaete worms (Hermodice carunculata) feeding on the zoanthids. Resistance of marine animals to the toxin may enable it to enter food chains.

50 CFR Appendix A to Part 622 - Species Tables

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Part 622—Species Tables Table 1 of Appendix A to Part 622—Caribbean Coral Reef Resources I... Millepora spp., Fire corals Family Stylasteridae Stylaster roseus, Rose lace corals B. Anthozoans—Class Anthozoa 1. Soft corals—Order Alcyonacea Family Anthothelidae Erythropodium caribaeorum, Encrusting...

78 FR 14503 - Amendment 4 to the Corals and Reef Associated Plants and Invertebrates Fishery Management Plan of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-06

... established to end overfishing and prevent overfishing from occurring. Annual catch limits are levels of... species, the sea vines (Halophila spp., including H. decipiens, H. baillonis, H. engelmannii, and H... Stylaster roseus, Rose lace corals B. Anthozoans--Class Anthozoa 1. Soft corals--Order Alcyonacea Family...

Sea anemone Radianthus macrodactylus--a new source of palytoxin.

PubMed

Mahnir, V M; Kozlovskaya, E P; Kalinovsky, A I

1992-11-01

A very potent non-protein toxin was isolated from the sea anemone Radianthus macrodactylus with the use of chromatography on polytetrafluoroethylene, CM-Sephadex C-25 and by cation and anion exchange HPLC. The toxin was identified as palytoxin by u.v.-, i.r.- and 500 MHz 1H NMR spectroscopy. Its LD50 was 0.74 +/- 0.29 micrograms/kg by i.v. injection into mice. So far, palytoxin has been associated with zoanthids only. The toxin caused the loss of haemoglobin from erythrocytes but only in about 2 hr after the beginning of incubation, which is characteristic for palytoxin from zoanthids. Sea anemone palytoxin was divided into major and minor components by HPLC. The latter proved to be a product of degradation of palytoxin.

Conservation and diversification of Msx protein in metazoan evolution.

PubMed

Takahashi, Hirokazu; Kamiya, Akiko; Ishiguro, Akira; Suzuki, Atsushi C; Saitou, Naruya; Toyoda, Atsushi; Aruga, Jun

2008-01-01

Msx (/msh) family genes encode homeodomain (HD) proteins that control ontogeny in many animal species. We compared the structures of Msx genes from a wide range of Metazoa (Porifera, Cnidaria, Nematoda, Arthropoda, Tardigrada, Platyhelminthes, Mollusca, Brachiopoda, Annelida, Echiura, Echinodermata, Hemichordata, and Chordata) to gain an understanding of the role of these genes in phylogeny. Exon-intron boundary analysis suggested that the position of the intron located N-terminally to the HDs was widely conserved in all the genes examined, including those of cnidarians. Amino acid (aa) sequence comparison revealed 3 new evolutionarily conserved domains, as well as very strong conservation of the HDs. Two of the three domains were associated with Groucho-like protein binding in both a vertebrate and a cnidarian Msx homolog, suggesting that the interaction between Groucho-like proteins and Msx proteins was established in eumetazoan ancestors. Pairwise comparison among the collected HDs and their C-flanking aa sequences revealed that the degree of sequence conservation varied depending on the animal taxa from which the sequences were derived. Highly conserved Msx genes were identified in the Vertebrata, Cephalochordata, Hemichordata, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Brachiopoda, and Anthozoa. The wide distribution of the conserved sequences in the animal phylogenetic tree suggested that metazoan ancestors had already acquired a set of conserved domains of the current Msx family genes. Interestingly, although strongly conserved sequences were recovered from the Vertebrata, Cephalochordata, and Anthozoa, the sequences from the Urochordata and Hydrozoa showed weak conservation. Because the Vertebrata-Cephalochordata-Urochordata and Anthozoa-Hydrozoa represent sister groups in the Chordata and Cnidaria, respectively, Msx sequence diversification may have occurred differentially in the course of evolution. We speculate that selective loss of the conserved domains in Msx family

Comparative proteomics reveals recruitment patterns of some protein families in the venoms of Cnidaria.

PubMed

Jaimes-Becerra, Adrian; Chung, Ray; Morandini, André C; Weston, Andrew J; Padilla, Gabriel; Gacesa, Ranko; Ward, Malcolm; Long, Paul F; Marques, Antonio C

2017-10-01

Cnidarians are probably the oldest group of animals to be venomous, yet our current picture of cnidarian venom evolution is highly imbalanced due to limited taxon sampling. High-throughput tandem mass spectrometry was used to determine venom composition of the scyphozoan Chrysaora lactea and two cubozoans Tamoya haplonema and Chiropsalmus quadrumanus. Protein recruitment patterns were then compared against 5 other cnidarian venom proteomes taken from the literature. A total of 28 putative toxin protein families were identified, many for the first time in Cnidaria. Character mapping analysis revealed that 17 toxin protein families with predominantly cytolytic biological activities were likely recruited into the cnidarian venom proteome before the lineage split between Anthozoa and Medusozoa. Thereafter, venoms of Medusozoa and Anthozoa differed during subsequent divergence of cnidarian classes. Recruitment and loss of toxin protein families did not correlate with accepted phylogenetic patterns of Cnidaria. Selective pressures that drive toxin diversification independent of taxonomic positioning have yet to be identified in Cnidaria and now warrant experimental consideration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Final Report for Contract N00014-89-J-3047 (Yale University)

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-06-30

REPORTING PERIOD: 1 July 1989 - 30 June 1992 QOJCTI: To determine the transmission dynamics of cnidarian allorecognition using standard breeding...These results essentially obviate all prior interpretations of the genetics of cnidarian allorecognition as grossly oversimplified. In addition, the...laboratory has (see references below) (1) reported the first homeoboxes from cnidarians , (2) used mtDNA conformation to demonstrate that Anthozoa are the

Naked Stony Corals: Skeleton Loss in Scleractinia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Medina, Monica; Collins, Allen G.; Takaoka, Tori L.

2005-12-01

Hexacorallia includes the Scleractinia, or stony corals, characterized by having an external calcareous skeleton made of aragonite, and the Corallimorpharia, or mushroom corals, that lack such a skeleton. Although each group has traditionally been considered monophyletic, some molecular phylogenetic analyses have challenged this, suggesting that skeletal features are evolutionarily plastic, and reviving notions that the scleractinian skeleton may be ephemeral and that the group itself may be polyphyletic. Nevertheless, the most comprehensive phylogenetic study of Hexacorallia supported scleractinian monophyly (REF), and so this remains controversial. In order to resolve this contentious issue, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome sequences ofmore » nine scleractinians and four corallimorpharians and performed phylogenetic analysis that also included three outgroups (an octocoral and two sea anemones). Our data provide the first strong evidence that Scleractinia is paraphyletic and that the Corallimorpharia is derived from within the group, from which we conclude that skeletal loss has occurred in the latter group secondarily. It is possible that a driving force in such skeletal loss could be the high levels of CO{sub 2} in the ocean during the mid-Cretaceous, which would have impacted aragonite solubility. We estimate from molecular divergence measures that the Corallimorpharia arose in the mid-Cretaceous, approximately 87 million years ago (Ma), supporting this view. These data also permit us to date the origin of Scleractinia to 265 Ma, narrowing the gap between the group's phylogenetic origin and its earliest fossil record.« less

Chemical profiling of two congeneric sea mat corals along the Brazilian coast: adaptive and functional patterns.

PubMed

Costa-Lotufo, L V; Carnevale-Neto, F; Trindade-Silva, A E; Silva, R R; Silva, G G Z; Wilke, D V; Pinto, F C L; Sahm, B D B; Jimenez, P C; Mendonça, J N; Lotufo, T M C; Pessoa, O D L; Lopes, N P

2018-02-20

Metabolomic profiles were explored to understand environmental and taxonomic influences on the metabolism of two congeneric zoanthids, Palythoa caribaeorum and P. variabilis, collected across distinct geographical ranges. Integrated mass spectrometry data suggested the major influence of geographical location on chemical divergence when compared to species differentiation.

Occurrence and sequestration of toxins in food chains.

PubMed

Mebs, D

1998-11-01

Animals may acquire toxicity by absorbing toxic compounds from their food, e.g. from plants or other animals. Sequestration and accumulation of toxins may provide protection from predators, which learn to avoid this prey because of unpleasant experiences such as bitter taste. This is a common phenomenon in marine as well as in terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, toxins may enter food chains where they accumulate reaching high, often lethal concentrations. Palytoxin which had been primarily detected in marine zoanthids (Palythoa sp.), occurs also in a wide range of other animals, e.g. in sponges, corals, shellfish, polychaetes and crustaceans, but also in fish, which feed on crustaceans and zoanthids as well. These animals exhibit a high resistance to the toxin's action. The mechanisms which protect the Na+, K+-ATPase of their cell membranes, the primary target of palytoxin, is unknown. Sequestration of the toxin by other animals may cause health problems due to food poisoning.

Unexpected diversity and new species in the sponge-Parazoanthidae association in southern Japan.

PubMed

Montenegro, Javier; Sinniger, Frederic; Reimer, James Davis

2015-08-01

Currently the genera Parazoanthus (family Parazoanthidae) and Epizoanthus (family Epizoanthidae) are the only sponge-associated zoantharians (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). The Parazoanthidae-sponge associations are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical waters from the intertidal to the deep sea in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans. However, the taxonomic identification of both parties is often confused due to variable morphology and wide ecological ranges. In particular, Parazoanthidae species diversity remains poorly understood in the Indo-Pacific. In the present study, the diversity of the sponge-zoanthid association in the Indo-Pacific was investigated with 71 Parazoanthidae specimens collected from 29 different locations in Japan (n=22), Australia (n=6) and Florida, USA (n=1). For all specimens morphological analyses were performed and total DNA was extracted and amplified for four DNA markers (COI-mtDNA, mt 16S-rDNA, ITS-rDNA and ALG11-nuDNA). The combined data demonstrate that the specimens of this study are clearly different from those of all described Parazoanthus species, and lead us to erect Umimayanthus gen. n., within family Parazoanthidae, containing the three newly described species U. chanpuru sp. n., U. miyabi sp. n., U. nakama sp. n. The new genus also includes the previously described species U. parasiticus (Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1860; comb. nov.), previously belonging to the genus Parazoanthus. Neighbor joining, maximum likelihood and Bayesian posterior probability phylogenetic trees clearly demonstrate the monophyly of Umimayanthus gen. n. to the exclusion of all outgroup sequences. The phylogenetic results were also compared to morphological features, and polyp sizes, amount of sand content in tissues, types of connections between polyps, and cnidae data, in particular holotrichs-1, were useful in distinguishing the different species within this new genus. This new genus can be distinguished from all other Zoantharia by a unique and

A Study of the Invertebrates and Fishes of Salt Marshes in Two Oregon Estuaries.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-06-01

TAXON Level Level Debris TAXON Level Level Debris Marsh Marsh Line Marsh Marsh Line Cnidaria Coleopr era Halaoampa s? p. A Carabidae A A A Turbellaria A...HAB ITAT H fAB ITAT TAXON Tidal Tidal Flat Tidal Tidal Flat Lan Creek Sandy Mudd TAXON PA Creek SandyMdd Cnidaria A A Tanaidacea Nemertea A A Pancolus...INVERTEBRATES Phylum Protozoa Subphylum Sarcomastigophora Class Rhizopodea Order Foraminifera Phylum Cnidaria Class Anthozoa Subclass Zoantharia Order

Three methods for isolating viable anthozoan endoderm cells with their intracellular symbiotic dinoflagellates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gates, R. D.; Muscatine, L.

1992-09-01

Three maceration methods are described for the isolation of single endoderm cells from marine cnidarians. Two are enzymatic treatments suitable for fleshy anthozoans such as sea anemones and zoanthids. The third employs calcium free sea water and is suitable for stony corals. The viability and morphology of the endoderm cells is described using fluorogenic dyes and scanning and transmission electron microscopy.

Nematogalectin, a nematocyst protein with GlyXY and galectin domains, demonstrates nematocyte-specific alternative splicing in Hydra

PubMed Central

Hwang, Jung Shan; Takaku, Yasuharu; Momose, Tsuyoshi; Adamczyk, Patrizia; Özbek, Suat; Ikeo, Kazuho; Khalturin, Konstantin; Hemmrich, Georg; Bosch, Thomas C. G.; Holstein, Thomas W.; David, Charles N.; Gojobori, Takashi

2010-01-01

Taxonomically restricted genes or lineage-specific genes contribute to morphological diversification in metazoans and provide unique functions for particular taxa in adapting to specific environments. To understand how such genes arise and participate in morphological evolution, we have investigated a gene called nematogalectin in Hydra, which has a structural role in the formation of nematocysts, stinging organelles that are unique to the phylum Cnidaria. Nematogalectin is a 28-kDa protein with an N-terminal GlyXY domain (glycine followed by two hydrophobic amino acids), which can form a collagen triple helix, followed by a galactose-binding lectin domain. Alternative splicing of the nematogalectin transcript allows the gene to encode two proteins, nematogalectin A and nematogalectin B. We demonstrate that expression of nematogalectin A and B is mutually exclusive in different nematocyst types: Desmonemes express nematogalectin B, whereas stenoteles and isorhizas express nematogalectin B early in differentiation, followed by nematogalectin A. Like Hydra, the marine hydrozoan Clytia also has two nematogalectin transcripts, which are expressed in different nematocyte types. By comparison, anthozoans have only one nematogalectin gene. Gene phylogeny indicates that tandem duplication of nematogalectin B exons gave rise to nematogalectin A before the divergence of Anthozoa and Medusozoa and that nematogalectin A was subsequently lost in Anthozoa. The emergence of nematogalectin A may have played a role in the morphological diversification of nematocysts in the medusozoan lineage. PMID:20937891

Jellyfish mesogloea collagen. Characterization of molecules as alpha 1 alpha 2 alpha 3 heterotrimers.

PubMed

Miura, S; Kimura, S

1985-12-05

The mesogloea collagen of a primitive animal, the jellyfish Stomolophus nomurai, belonging to the class Scyphozoa in the Coelenterata, was studied with respect to its chain structure. Most of the mesogloea collagen was solubilized by limited digestion with pepsin and isolated by selective precipitation at 0.9 m NaCl in 0.5 M acetic acid. Upon denaturation, the pepsin-solubilized collagen produced three distinct alpha chains, alpha 1, alpha 2, and alpha 3, in comparable amounts which were separable by CM-cellulose chromatography. The nonidentity of these alpha chains was confirmed by amino acid and carbohydrate analyses and peptide mapping. Furthermore, the introduction of intramolecular cross-links into native molecules by formaldehyde yielded a large proportion of gamma 123 chain with chain structure alpha 1 alpha 2 alpha 3, as judged by chromatographic behavior and peptide maps. We concluded that mesogloea collagen is comprised of alpha 1 alpha 2 alpha 3 heterotrimers and is chemically like vertebrate Type V collagen. On the other hand, sea anemone mesogloea collagen from the class Anthozoa was previously reported to comprise (alpha)3 homotrimers (Katzman, R. L., and Kang, A. H. (1972) J. Biol. Chem. 247, 5486-5489). On the basis of these findings, we assume that alpha 1 alpha 2 alpha 3 heterotrimers arose in evolution with the divergence of Scyphozoa and Anthozoa.

Ecology of juvenile hawksbills (Eretmochelys imbricata) at Buck Island Reef National Monument, US Virgin Islands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hart, Kristen M.; Sartain-Iverson, Autumn R.; Hillis-Starr, Zandy; Phillips, Brendalee; Mayor, Philippe A.; Roberson, Kimberly; Pemberton, Roy A.; Allen, Jason B.; Lundgren, Ian; Musick, Susanna

2013-01-01

Surveys of juvenile hawksbills around Buck Island Reef National Monument, US Virgin Islands from 1994 to 1999 revealed distributional patterns and resulted in a total of 75 individual hawksbill captures from all years; turtles ranged from 23.2 to 77.7 cm curved carapace length (CCL; mean 42.1 ± 12.3 cm SD). Juveniles concentrated where Zoanthid cover was highest. Length of time between recaptures, or presumed minimum site residency, ranged from 59 to 1,396 days (mean 620.8 ± 402.4 days SD). Growth rates for 23 juveniles ranged from 0.0 to 9.5 cm year−1 (mean 4.1 ± 2.4 cm year−1SD). Annual mean growth rates were non-monotonic, with the largest mean growth rate occurring in the 30–39 cm CCL size class. Gastric lavages indicated that Zoanthids were the primary food source for hawksbills. These results contribute to our understanding of juvenile hawksbill ecology and serve as a baseline for future studies or inventories of hawksbills in the Caribbean.

Fatty acid composition of bacteria associated with the toxic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis lenticularis and with Caribbean Palythoa species.

PubMed

Carballeira, N M; Emiliano, A; Sostre, A; Restituyo, J A; González, I M; Colón, G M; Tosteson, C G; Tosteson, T R

1998-06-01

The fatty acid composition of a Pseudomonas sp. (Alteromonas) and its host, the dinoflagellate Ostreopsis lenticularis, vectors in ciguatera fish poisoning, has been studied. The major fatty acids in O. lenticularis were 16:0, 20:5n-3, and 22:6n-3, but 18:2n-6, 18:3n-3, and 18:n-3 were also identified. In contrast to other dinoflagellates, 1 8:5n-3 was not detected in O. lenticularis. Even-chain fatty acids such as 9-16:1, 11-18:1, and 13-20:1 predominated in the Pseudomonas sp. from O. lenticularis, but 1 6-20% of (E)-11-methyl-12-octadecenoic acid was also identified. The chirality of the latter was confirmed by total synthesis (28% overall yield) starting from oxacyclotridecan-2-one. The fatty acid compositions of two other Pseudomonas species, from the palytoxin-producing zoanthids Palythoa mamillosa and P. caribdea, were also studied and were similar to that of the Pseudomonas sp. from O. lenticularis. The possibility of using some of these fatty acids as chemotaxonomic lipids in identifying marine animals that consume toxic dinoflagellates or zoanthids is discussed.

Zaphrentis and the Zaphrentidae (Devonian; anthozoa, rugosa)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oliver, W.A.

2007-01-01

Zaphrentis is one of the most widely used names in Paleozoic coral paleontology. Species of "Zaphrentis" have been named from every Paleozoic System except the Cambrian. Variants of the word, such as zaphrentoid, are widely used with varied meanings. Nomenclatural spinoffs are numerous: Neozaphrentis and Heterophrentis are obvious examples, but dozens of additional genera have type species that were originally described in Zaphrentis. Many paleontologists are familiar with the word but few really know what it means. Zaphrentis (as a subgenus) and five new species were named in 1820, based on corals from the Falls of the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Indiana. Descriptions were minimal, none was illustrated, and no specimens were preserved as types. Nominal species of "Zaphrentis" proliferated for over 100 years before a redescription based on Falls specimens was published (1938), the probable source beds recognized (1942), a neotype selected (1965) and adequately described and illustrated (1981). At this time, I recognize only four zaphrentid genera: Zaphrentis (middle Eifelian), Heliophyllum (middle Emsian through Givetian), Aemulophyllum (middle Emsian), and Cyathocylindrium (lower Emsian?; middle Emsian through Eifelian). All four genera seem to have originated in the Eastern Americas Biogeographic Realm. Heliophyllum is the most common, has the longest stratigraphic range, and is the only one known to occur outside of its area of origin. Heliophyllum modicum n. sp., once discussed as a possible Zaphrentis, is described and compared with both the type species of Zaphrentis and other Heliophyllum species. A single coral specimen from the Indian Cove Formation (upper Pragian or lower Emsian), Gaspe??, Quebec, is considered the earliest known zaphrentid and is described as Cyathocylindrium? n. sp.

Photobacterium jeanii sp. nov., isolated from corals and zoanthids.

PubMed

Chimetto, Luciane A; Cleenwerck, Ilse; Thompson, Cristiane C; Brocchi, Marcelo; Willems, Anne; De Vos, Paul; Thompson, Fabiano L

2010-12-01

Four novel isolates (R-40508(T), R-40507, R-40903 and R-21419) were obtained from different cnidarian species (Phyllogorgia dilatata, Merulina ampliata and Palythoa caribaeorum) from different places in Brazil and Australia. The novel isolates formed a tight phylogenetic group based on 16S rRNA, recA, topA, ftsZ, mreB and rpoA gene sequences. Their closest phylogenetic neighbours were the type strains of Photobacterium leiognathi, P. rosenbergii and P. halotolerans, sharing 97.1-97.5 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. DNA-DNA hybridization between a representative strain (R-40508(T)) and the type strains of these Photobacterium species revealed less than 20 % relatedness, showing that the new isolates belong to a novel species. Several phenotypic features allow the differentiation of the novel species from its closest phylogenetic neighbours. It has gelatinase and lipase activity and can utilize melibiose, but it cannot grow on 6 % NaCl. In addition, the novel species has the fatty acid iso-C(16 : 0), but lacks the fatty acids C(17 : 0), C(17 : 0) cyclo, iso-C(17 : 0), C(17 : 1)ω8c and iso-C(17 : 1)ω9c. The name Photobacterium jeanii sp. nov. is proposed for this species, with the type strain R-40508(T) (=LMG 25436(T) =CAIM 1817(T)). The G+C content of the type strain is 45.5mol%.

Palytoxin: a new marine toxin from a coelenterate.

PubMed

Moore, R E; Scheuer, P J

1971-04-30

Palytoxin has been isolated from the zoanthids "limu-make-o-Hana" (Tentatively identified as Palythoa sp.) as a noncrystalline, chromatographically pure entity. Apart from polypeptide and protein toxins, it is the most highly toxic substance known, with a lethal dose (LD(59)) in mice of 0.15 microgram per kilogram by intravenous injection. Unlike the potent toxins batrachotoxin, saxitoxin, and tetrodotoxin which have molecular weights of 500 or less, palytoxin has an estimated molecular weight of 3300 and contains no repetitive amino acid or sugar units.

Coastal nutrification and coral health at Porto Seguro reefs, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costa, O.; Attrill, M.; Nimmo, M.

2003-04-01

Human activities have substantially increased the natural flux of nutrients to coastal systems worldwide. In Brazilian reefs, all major stresses (sedimentation, overfishing, tourism-related activities and nutrification) are human induced. To assess nutrification levels in Brazilian coastal reefs, measurements of the distribution patterns of nutrients and chlorophyll concentrations were conducted in three nearshore and offshore reefs with distinct nutrient inputs along the south coast of Bahia State. Seawater and porewater samples were analysed for soluble reactive phosphorus, total oxidised nitrogen and reactive silica. Benthic surveys were performed at all sites to investigate the relationships between benthic community composition and nutrient and chlorophyll concentrations. Sampling was undertaken in dry and rainy seasons. Results of both seawater and porewater nutrient measurements revealed the occurrence of consistent spatial and temporal patterns. An inshore-offshore gradient reflects the occurrence of land-based point sources, with significant amount of nutrients being delivered by human activities on the coast (untreated sewage and groundwater seepage). Another spatial gradient is related to distance from a localized source of pollution (an urban settlement without sewerage treatment) with two nearshore reefs presenting distinct nutrient and chlorophyll concentrations. Seasonal variations suggest that submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is the primary source of nutrients for the coastal reefs during rainy season. The data also suggests that the SGD effect is not restricted to nearshore reefs, and may be an important factor controlling the differences between landward and seaward sides on the offshore reef. Benthic community assessment revealed that turf alga is the dominant group in all studied reefs and that zoanthids are the organisms most adapted to take advantage of nutrient increase in coastal areas. At nearshore reefs, there was a negative

The Impact of Trampling on Reef Macrobenthos in Northeastern Brazil: How Effective are Current Conservation Strategies?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Gleice S.; Burgos, Douglas C.; Lira, Simone M. A.; Schwamborn, Ralf

2015-10-01

Tropical reefs are used for intensive tourism in various parts of the world. However, few studies have investigated the effect of regular trampling on these fragile ecosystems. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of different conservation strategies (open access, partial protection, and total long-term closure) on intertidal reef tops in Porto de Galinhas and Tamandaré, Pernambuco State, Brazil. Analysis of the macrobenthic community was performed with photo transects and image analysis (CPCe). Twenty-seven transects were surveyed from January to August 2012, in intensively impacted (I) open-access sites, in partially protected (P) sites with occasional, illegal trampling, and in a permanently closed (C) site. In I sites, total live cover was half the cover found in adjacent P sites. The area of bare rock averaged 53.6 and 25.0 % in I and P sites, respectively. In the C site, the area of bare rock was only 19.8 %. In I and P sites, macroalgae ( Palisada perforata) were dominating, while in the C site, the zoanthid Zoanthus sociatus was most abundant. Shell-bearing vermetids ( Petaloconchus varians) and bivalves ( Isognomon bicolor) were more abundant at the C site, being possible bioindicators for areas with zero or little trampling. Twelve years of total closure produced near-pristine communities in the C site, dominated by zoanthids and fragile mollusks. This study showed that trampling has severe and long-lasting consequences for the structure of these ecosystems.

The Impact of Trampling on Reef Macrobenthos in Northeastern Brazil: How Effective are Current Conservation Strategies?

PubMed

Santos, Gleice S; Burgos, Douglas C; Lira, Simone M A; Schwamborn, Ralf

2015-10-01

Tropical reefs are used for intensive tourism in various parts of the world. However, few studies have investigated the effect of regular trampling on these fragile ecosystems. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of different conservation strategies (open access, partial protection, and total long-term closure) on intertidal reef tops in Porto de Galinhas and Tamandaré, Pernambuco State, Brazil. Analysis of the macrobenthic community was performed with photo transects and image analysis (CPCe). Twenty-seven transects were surveyed from January to August 2012, in intensively impacted (I) open-access sites, in partially protected (P) sites with occasional, illegal trampling, and in a permanently closed (C) site. In I sites, total live cover was half the cover found in adjacent P sites. The area of bare rock averaged 53.6 and 25.0% in I and P sites, respectively. In the C site, the area of bare rock was only 19.8%. In I and P sites, macroalgae (Palisada perforata) were dominating, while in the C site, the zoanthid Zoanthus sociatus was most abundant. Shell-bearing vermetids (Petaloconchus varians) and bivalves (Isognomon bicolor) were more abundant at the C site, being possible bioindicators for areas with zero or little trampling. Twelve years of total closure produced near-pristine communities in the C site, dominated by zoanthids and fragile mollusks. This study showed that trampling has severe and long-lasting consequences for the structure of these ecosystems.

Caribbean Shallow-water Black Corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Antipatharia)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Opresko, Dennis M; Sanchez, Juan Armando

2005-01-01

Our aim is to provide a complete key and guide to the species of black corals from the Caribbean reefs at depths shallower than about 100 m. The key to the species is mostly based on colonial features that are recognized in the field, although some closely related species can only be differentiated by microscopic skeletal features. Each species is illustrated with one or more photos showing the size and shape of the colony; many photos were taken in the natural environment to facilitate underwater identification. Additionally, a short description is provided of each species and their microscopic diagnostic charactersmore » are illustrated with the aid of the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Fifteen black coral species are found in relatively shallow-water in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and other parts of the tropical western Atlantic; these belong to the families Myriopathidae [Tanacetipathes hirta (Gray), T. tanacetum (Pourtales), T. barbadensis (Brook), T. thamnea (Warner), and Plumapathes pennacea (Pallas)]; Antipathidae [Antipathes lenta Pourtales, A. rubusifonnis Warner and Opresko, A. furcata Gray, A. umbratica Opresko, A. atlantica Gray, A. gracilis Gray, A. caribbeana Opresko, Stichopathes lutkeni Brook, and S. accidentalis (Gray)]; and Aphanipathidae [Rhipidipathes colombiana (Opresko and Sinchez)]. We hope that this guide will facilitate research on black corals on Caribbean reefs, where population surveys are urgently needed to evaluate or modify conservation policies.« less

A new species of Aspidophryxus G.O. Sars, 1883 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Dajidae) from Caribbean mysid shrimp.

PubMed

Boyko, Christopher B; Williams, Jason D

2012-12-01

A new species of dajid isopod in the genus Aspidophryxus G.O. Sars, 1883 is described from three females and one male found infesting the lateral carapace of Heteromysis (Olivemysis) actiniae Clarke, 1955 (Mysidae: Heteromysinae) associated with the corkscrew anemone Bartholomea annulata (Lesuer, 1817) (Anthozoa: Aiptasiidae) from the British Virgin Islands. This is the first record of the genus from the western Atlantic; three other species are known from northern European waters, the central Atlantic and Japan, all on mysid hosts. The new species is the first dajid recorded from tropical Caribbean waters. A key to species in the genus and a list of all known hosts with parasite orientation are provided.

Toxic potential of palytoxin.

PubMed

Patocka, Jiří; Gupta, Ramesh C; Wu, Qing-hua; Kuca, Kamil

2015-10-01

This review briefly describes the origin, chemistry, molecular mechanism of action, pharmacology, toxicology, and ecotoxicology of palytoxin and its analogues. Palytoxin and its analogues are produced by marine dinoflagellates. Palytoxin is also produced by Zoanthids (i.e. Palythoa), and Cyanobacteria (Trichodesmium). Palytoxin is a very large, non-proteinaceous molecule with a complex chemical structure having both lipophilic and hydrophilic moieties. Palytoxin is one of the most potent marine toxins with an LD50 of 150 ng/kg body weight in mice exposed intravenously. Pharmacological and electrophysiological studies have demonstrated that palytoxin acts as a hemolysin and alters the function of excitable cells through multiple mechanisms of action. Palytoxin selectively binds to Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase with a Kd of 20 pM and transforms the pump into a channel permeable to monovalent cations with a single-channel conductance of 10 pS. This mechanism of action could have multiple effects on cells. Evaluation of palytoxin toxicity using various animal models revealed that palytoxin is an extremely potent neurotoxin following an intravenous, intraperitoneal, intramuscular, subcutaneous or intratracheal route of exposure. Palytoxin also causes non-lethal, yet serious toxic effects following dermal or ocular exposure. Most incidents of palytoxin poisoning have manifested after oral intake of contaminated seafood. Poisonings in humans have also been noted after inhalation, cutaneous/systemic exposures with direct contact of aerosolized seawater during Ostreopsis blooms and/or through maintaining aquaria containing Cnidarian zoanthids. Palytoxin has a strong potential for toxicity in humans and animals, and currently this toxin is of great concern worldwide.

Evaluation of the effects of several zoanthamine-type alkaloids on the aggregation of human platelets.

PubMed

Villar, Rosa M; Gil-Longo, José; Daranas, Antonio H; Souto, María L; Fernández, José J; Peixinho, Solange; Barral, Miguel A; Santafé, Gilmar; Rodríguez, Jaime; Jiménez, Carlos

2003-05-15

Ten zoanthamine-type alkaloids from two marine zoanthids belonging to the Zoanthus genus (Zoanthus nymphaeus and Zoanthus sp.) along with one semisynthetic derivative were evaluated for their antiplatelet activities on human platelet aggregation induced by several stimulating agents. 11-Hydroxyzoanthamine (11) and a synthetic derivative of norzoanthamine (16) showed strong inhibition against thrombin-, collagen- and arachidonic acid-induced aggregation, zoanthenol (15) displayed a selective inhibitory activity induced by collagen, while zoanthaminone (10) behaved as a potent aggregant agent. These evaluations allowed us to deduce several structure-activity relationships and suggest some mechanisms of action for this type of compounds.

Aura-biomes are present in the water layer above coral reef benthic macro-organisms.

PubMed

Walsh, Kevin; Haggerty, J Matthew; Doane, Michael P; Hansen, John J; Morris, Megan M; Moreira, Ana Paula B; de Oliveira, Louisi; Leomil, Luciana; Garcia, Gizele D; Thompson, Fabiano; Dinsdale, Elizabeth A

2017-01-01

As coral reef habitats decline worldwide, some reefs are transitioning from coral- to algal-dominated benthos with the exact cause for this shift remaining elusive. Increases in the abundance of microbes in the water column has been correlated with an increase in coral disease and reduction in coral cover. Here we investigated how multiple reef organisms influence microbial communities in the surrounding water column. Our study consisted of a field assessment of microbial communities above replicate patches dominated by a single macro-organism. Metagenomes were constructed from 20 L of water above distinct macro-organisms, including (1) the coral Mussismilia braziliensis , (2) fleshy macroalgae ( Stypopodium , Dictota and Canistrocarpus ), (3) turf algae, and (4) the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum and were compared to the water microbes collected 3 m above the reef. Microbial genera and functional potential were annotated using MG-RAST and showed that the dominant benthic macro-organisms influence the taxa and functions of microbes in the water column surrounding them, developing a specific "aura-biome". The coral aura-biome reflected the open water column, and was associated with Synechococcus and functions suggesting oligotrophic growth, while the fleshy macroalgae aura-biome was associated with Ruegeria , Pseudomonas, and microbial functions suggesting low oxygen conditions. The turf algae aura-biome was associated with Vibrio, Flavobacterium, and functions suggesting pathogenic activity, while zoanthids were associated with Alteromonas and functions suggesting a stressful environment. Because each benthic organism has a distinct aura-biome, a change in benthic cover will change the microbial community of the water, which may lead to either the stimulation or suppression of the recruitment of benthic organisms.

Aura-biomes are present in the water layer above coral reef benthic macro-organisms

PubMed Central

Haggerty, J. Matthew; Doane, Michael P.; Hansen, John J.; Morris, Megan M.; Moreira, Ana Paula B.; de Oliveira, Louisi; Leomil, Luciana; Garcia, Gizele D.; Thompson, Fabiano; Dinsdale, Elizabeth A.

2017-01-01

As coral reef habitats decline worldwide, some reefs are transitioning from coral- to algal-dominated benthos with the exact cause for this shift remaining elusive. Increases in the abundance of microbes in the water column has been correlated with an increase in coral disease and reduction in coral cover. Here we investigated how multiple reef organisms influence microbial communities in the surrounding water column. Our study consisted of a field assessment of microbial communities above replicate patches dominated by a single macro-organism. Metagenomes were constructed from 20 L of water above distinct macro-organisms, including (1) the coral Mussismilia braziliensis, (2) fleshy macroalgae (Stypopodium, Dictota and Canistrocarpus), (3) turf algae, and (4) the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum and were compared to the water microbes collected 3 m above the reef. Microbial genera and functional potential were annotated using MG-RAST and showed that the dominant benthic macro-organisms influence the taxa and functions of microbes in the water column surrounding them, developing a specific “aura-biome”. The coral aura-biome reflected the open water column, and was associated with Synechococcus and functions suggesting oligotrophic growth, while the fleshy macroalgae aura-biome was associated with Ruegeria, Pseudomonas, and microbial functions suggesting low oxygen conditions. The turf algae aura-biome was associated with Vibrio, Flavobacterium, and functions suggesting pathogenic activity, while zoanthids were associated with Alteromonas and functions suggesting a stressful environment. Because each benthic organism has a distinct aura-biome, a change in benthic cover will change the microbial community of the water, which may lead to either the stimulation or suppression of the recruitment of benthic organisms. PMID:28828261

Morphologie und Ultrastruktur der Koralle Cornularia cornucopiae (Anthozoa, Octocorallia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benke, H.; Hündgen, M.

1984-03-01

Cornularia cornucopiae is a colonial coral whose polyps arise singly from stolons. In contrast with other octocrallia C. cornucopiae lacks calcareous spicules. Therefore, tissue preparation for electron microscopic investigations can be performed. The presence of a calyx such as the theca of hydroids, in which the polyps may be completely retracted, is conspicuous. The calyx consists of three layers. The structure of the basal layer suggests massive collagen. The body wall is connected with the calyx by living desmocytes. The histology of the oral disc and the actinopharynx is identical. The ventral side of the polyps bears the siphonoglyph. Below the pharynx the inner edges of the mesenteries are free and form the mesenterial filaments. The two ventral mesenteries differ from the others; the one is long and exhibits a large and heavily flagellated filament, the other is short and lacks a filament. The muscular system is represented by gastrodermal circular fibres in the body wall and by radial and longitudinal fibres in the septa; a large septal retractor muscle is missing.

Two distinct, geographically overlapping lineages of the corallimorpharian Ricordea florida (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia: Ricordeidae)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres-Pratts, H.; Lado-Insua, T.; Rhyne, A. L.; Rodríguez-Matos, L.; Schizas, N. V.

2011-06-01

We examined the genetic variation of the corallimorpharian Ricordea florida; it is distributed throughout the Caribbean region and is heavily harvested for the marine aquarium trade. Eighty-four distinct individuals of R. florida were sequenced from four geographically distant Caribbean locations (Curaçao, Florida, Guadeloupe, and Puerto Rico). Analysis of the ribosomal nuclear region (ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2) uncovered two geographically partially overlapping genetic lineages in R. florida, probably representing two cryptic species. Lineage 1 was found in Florida and Puerto Rico, and Lineage 2 was found in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, and Curaçao. Because of the multi-allelic nature of the ITS region, four individuals from Lineage 1 and six from Lineage 2 were cloned to evaluate the levels of hidden intra-individual variability. Pairwise genetic comparisons indicated that the levels of intra-individual and intra-lineage variability (<1%) were approximately an order of magnitude lower than the divergence (~9%) observed between the two lineages. The fishery regulations of the aquarium trade regard R. florida as one species. More refined regulations should take into account the presence of two genetic lineages, and they should be managed separately in order to preserve the long-term evolutionary potential of this corallimorpharian. The discovery of two distinct lineages in R. florida illustrates the importance of evaluating genetic variability in harvested species prior to the implementation of management policies.

Diversity and Evolution of Coral Fluorescent Proteins

PubMed Central

Alieva, Naila O.; Konzen, Karen A.; Field, Steven F.; Meleshkevitch, Ella A.; Hunt, Marguerite E.; Beltran-Ramirez, Victor; Miller, David J.; Wiedenmann, Jörg; Salih, Anya; Matz, Mikhail V.

2008-01-01

GFP-like fluorescent proteins (FPs) are the key color determinants in reef-building corals (class Anthozoa, order Scleractinia) and are of considerable interest as potential genetically encoded fluorescent labels. Here we report 40 additional members of the GFP family from corals. There are three major paralogous lineages of coral FPs. One of them is retained in all sampled coral families and is responsible for the non-fluorescent purple-blue color, while each of the other two evolved a full complement of typical coral fluorescent colors (cyan, green, and red) and underwent sorting between coral groups. Among the newly cloned proteins are a “chromo-red” color type from Echinopora forskaliana (family Faviidae) and pink chromoprotein from Stylophora pistillata (Pocilloporidae), both evolving independently from the rest of coral chromoproteins. There are several cyan FPs that possess a novel kind of excitation spectrum indicating a neutral chromophore ground state, for which the residue E167 is responsible (numeration according to GFP from A. victoria). The chromoprotein from Acropora millepora is an unusual blue instead of purple, which is due to two mutations: S64C and S183T. We applied a novel probabilistic sampling approach to recreate the common ancestor of all coral FPs as well as the more derived common ancestor of three main fluorescent colors of the Faviina suborder. Both proteins were green such as found elsewhere outside class Anthozoa. Interestingly, a substantial fraction of the all-coral ancestral protein had a chromohore apparently locked in a non-fluorescent neutral state, which may reflect the transitional stage that enabled rapid color diversification early in the history of coral FPs. Our results highlight the extent of convergent or parallel evolution of the color diversity in corals, provide the foundation for experimental studies of evolutionary processes that led to color diversification, and enable a comparative analysis of structural

Case definitions for human poisonings postulated to palytoxins exposure.

PubMed

Tubaro, A; Durando, P; Del Favero, G; Ansaldi, F; Icardi, G; Deeds, J R; Sosa, S

2011-03-01

A series of case reports and anecdotal references describe the adverse effects on human health ascribed to the marine toxin palytoxin (PLTX) after different exposure routes. They include poisonings after oral intake of contaminated seafood, but also inhalation and cutaneous/systemic exposures after direct contact with aerosolized seawater during Ostreopsis blooms and/or through maintaining aquaria containing cnidarian zoanthids. The symptoms commonly recorded during PLTX intoxication are general malaise and weakness, associated with myalgia, respiratory effects, impairment of the neuromuscular apparatus and abnormalities in cardiac function. Systemic symptoms are often recorded together with local damages whose intensity varies according to the route and length of exposure. Gastrointestinal malaise or respiratory distress is common for oral and inhalational exposure, respectively. In addition, irritant properties of PLTX probably account for the inflammatory reactions typical of cutaneous and inhalational contact. Unfortunately, the toxin identification and/or quantification are often incomplete or missing and cases of poisoning are indirectly ascribed to PLTXs, according only to symptoms, anamnesis and environmental/epidemiological investigations (i.e. zoanthid handling or ingestion of particular seafood). Based on the available literature, we suggest a "case definition of PLTX poisonings" according to the main exposure routes, and, we propose the main symptoms to be checked, as well as, hemato-clinical analysis to be carried out. We also suggest the performance of specific analyses both on biological specimens of patients, as well as, on the contaminated materials responsible for the poisoning. A standardized protocol for data collection could provide a more rapid and reliable diagnosis of palytoxin-poisoning, but also the collection of necessary data for the risk assessment for this family of toxins. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Soft Coral Sarcophyton (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Octocorallia) Species Diversity and Chemotypes

PubMed Central

Aratake, Satoe; Tomura, Tomohiko; Saitoh, Seikoh; Yokokura, Ryouma; Kawanishi, Yuichi; Shinjo, Ryuichi; Reimer, James Davis; Tanaka, Junichi; Maekawa, Hideaki

2012-01-01

Research on the soft coral genus Sarcophyton extends over a wide range of fields, including marine natural products and the isolation of a number of cembranoid diterpenes. However, it is still unknown how soft corals produce this diverse array of metabolites, and the relationship between soft coral diversity and cembranoid diterpene production is not clear. In order to understand this relationship, we examined Sarcophyton specimens from Okinawa, Japan, by utilizing three methods: morphological examination of sclerites, chemotype identification, and phylogenetic examination of both Sarcophyton (utilizing mitochondrial protein-coding genes MutS homolog: msh1) and their endosymbiotic Symbiodinium spp. (utilizing nuclear internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA: ITS- rDNA). Chemotypes, molecular phylogenetic clades, and sclerites of Sarcophyton trocheliophorum specimens formed a clear and distinct group, but the relationships between chemotypes, molecular phylogenetic clade types and sclerites of the most common species, Sarcophyton glaucum, was not clear. S. glaucum was divided into four clades. A characteristic chemotype was observed within one phylogenetic clade of S. glaucum. Identities of symbiotic algae Symbiodinium spp. had no apparent relation to chemotypes of Sarcophyton spp. This study demonstrates that the complex results observed for S. glaucum are due to the incomplete and complex taxonomy of this species group. Our novel method of identification should help contribute to classification and taxonomic reassessment of this diverse soft coral genus. PMID:22272344

Soft coral Sarcophyton (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Octocorallia) species diversity and chemotypes.

PubMed

Aratake, Satoe; Tomura, Tomohiko; Saitoh, Seikoh; Yokokura, Ryouma; Kawanishi, Yuichi; Shinjo, Ryuichi; Reimer, James Davis; Tanaka, Junichi; Maekawa, Hideaki

2012-01-01

Research on the soft coral genus Sarcophyton extends over a wide range of fields, including marine natural products and the isolation of a number of cembranoid diterpenes. However, it is still unknown how soft corals produce this diverse array of metabolites, and the relationship between soft coral diversity and cembranoid diterpene production is not clear. In order to understand this relationship, we examined Sarcophyton specimens from Okinawa, Japan, by utilizing three methods: morphological examination of sclerites, chemotype identification, and phylogenetic examination of both Sarcophyton (utilizing mitochondrial protein-coding genes MutS homolog: msh1) and their endosymbiotic Symbiodinium spp. (utilizing nuclear internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA: ITS- rDNA). Chemotypes, molecular phylogenetic clades, and sclerites of Sarcophyton trocheliophorum specimens formed a clear and distinct group, but the relationships between chemotypes, molecular phylogenetic clade types and sclerites of the most common species, Sarcophyton glaucum, was not clear. S. glaucum was divided into four clades. A characteristic chemotype was observed within one phylogenetic clade of S. glaucum. Identities of symbiotic algae Symbiodinium spp. had no apparent relation to chemotypes of Sarcophyton spp. This study demonstrates that the complex results observed for S. glaucum are due to the incomplete and complex taxonomy of this species group. Our novel method of identification should help contribute to classification and taxonomic reassessment of this diverse soft coral genus.

Some scleractinian corals (Scleractinia: Anthozoa) of Larak Island, Persian Gulf.

PubMed

Samiei, Jahangir Vajed; Dab, Koosha; Ghezellou, Parviz; Shirvani, Arash

2013-01-01

There is a shortage of knowledge about taxonomy and distribution of coral reef communities in the Persian Gulf. One of the main steps in the conservation and evaluation of such an environment is to locate and identify the communities and their inhabited fauna and flora. In the present study scleractinian corals were collected from depths of 3 to 9 meter around Larak Island, Persian Gulf. Underwater photographs of the sampled specimens were obtained in the natural habitat before sampling. 37 species have been identified via morphological characteristics of exoskeletons. The following study provided a pictorial reference to enhance the basic knowledge about coral reef communities in the Persian Gulf.

Soluble organic matrices of aragonitic skeletons of Merulinidae (Cnidaria, Anthozoa).

PubMed

Dauphin, Yannicke; Cuif, Jean-Pierre; Williams, C Terry

2008-05-01

Our interpretation of the overall taxonomy and evolution of the Scleractinia, the most important reef builders in tropical areas, has long depended exclusively on morphology of the calcareous skeletons. The reported series of physical and biochemical characterizations of skeletons and the mineralizing matrices extracted from the skeletons allow, for the first time, the level of biochemical diversity among corallites of the same family to be estimated. Similarities and differences observed in the micro- and nanostructures of the skeletons reflect those of the soluble organic matrices. Sulphur is mainly associated with sulphated acidic sugars. The role of sulphated sugars on the biomineralization processes is still underestimated. The resulting data suggest that environmental conditions may act on the mineralization process through the detailed compositions of the mineralizing matrices.

Evolutionary Consequences of DNA Methylation in a Basal Metazoan

PubMed Central

Dixon, Groves B.; Bay, Line K.; Matz, Mikhail V.

2016-01-01

Gene body methylation (gbM) is an ancestral and widespread feature in Eukarya, yet its adaptive value and evolutionary implications remain unresolved. The occurrence of gbM within protein-coding sequences is particularly puzzling, because methylation causes cytosine hypermutability and hence is likely to produce deleterious amino acid substitutions. We investigate this enigma using an evolutionarily basal group of Metazoa, the stony corals (order Scleractinia, class Anthozoa, phylum Cnidaria). We show that patterns of coral gbM are similar to other invertebrate species, predicting wide and active transcription and slower sequence evolution. We also find a strong correlation between gbM and codon bias, resulting from systematic replacement of CpG bearing codons. We conclude that gbM has strong effects on codon evolution and speculate that this may influence establishment of optimal codons. PMID:27189563

Cnidarians as a Source of New Marine Bioactive Compounds—An Overview of the Last Decade and Future Steps for Bioprospecting

PubMed Central

Rocha, Joana; Peixe, Luisa; Gomes, Newton C.M.; Calado, Ricardo

2011-01-01

Marine invertebrates are rich sources of bioactive compounds and their biotechnological potential attracts scientific and economic interest worldwide. Although sponges are the foremost providers of marine bioactive compounds, cnidarians are also being studied with promising results. This diverse group of marine invertebrates includes over 11,000 species, 7500 of them belonging to the class Anthozoa. We present an overview of some of the most promising marine bioactive compounds from a therapeutic point of view isolated from cnidarians in the first decade of the 21st century. Anthozoan orders Alcyonacea and Gorgonacea exhibit by far the highest number of species yielding promising compounds. Antitumor activity has been the major area of interest in the screening of cnidarian compounds, the most promising ones being terpenoids (monoterpenoids, diterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids). We also discuss the future of bioprospecting for new marine bioactive compounds produced by cnidarians. PMID:22073000

The biology and chemistry of the zoanthamine alkaloids.

PubMed

Behenna, Douglas C; Stockdill, Jennifer L; Stoltz, Brian M

2008-01-01

Marine natural products have long played an important role in natural products chemistry and drug discovery. Mirroring the rich variety and complicated interactions of the marine environment, the substances isolated from sea creatures tend to be incredibly diverse in both molecular structure and biological activity. The natural products isolated from the polyps of marine zoanthids are no exception. The zoanthamine alkaloids, the first of which were isolated over 20 years ago, are of particular interest to the synthetic community because they feature a novel structural framework and exhibit a broad range of biological activities. In this Review, we summarize the major contributions to understanding the zoanthamine natural products with regard to their isolation and structure determination, as well as studies on their biological activity and total synthesis.

Epifauna dynamics at an offshore foundation--implications of future wind power farming in the North Sea.

PubMed

Krone, Roland; Gutow, Lars; Joschko, Tanja J; Schröder, Alexander

2013-04-01

In the light of the introduction of thousands of large offshore wind power foundations into the North Sea within the next decades, this manuscript focuses on the biofouling processes and likely reef effects. The study explores the macrozoobenthos (biofouling) colonization at an offshore platform which is comparable to offshore wind turbine foundations. A total of 183 single samples were taken and the parameters water depth and time were considered comparing biofouling masses and communities. The blue mussel Mytilus edulis, Anthozoa and the Amphipoda Jassa spp. were the dominant species. The community from the 1 m zone and those from the 5 and 20-28 m zones can clearly be differentiated. The 10 m zone community represents the transition between the M. edulis dominated 1 m and 5 m zones and the Anthozoa dominated 20-28 m zone. In the future offshore wind farms, thousands of wind turbine foundations will provide habitat for a hard bottom fauna which is otherwise restricted to the sparse rocky habitats scattered within extensive sedimentary soft bottoms of the German Bight. However, offshore wind power foundations cannot be considered natural rock equivalents as they selectively increase certain natural hard bottom species. The surface of the construction (1280 m²) was covered by an average of 4300 kg biomass. This foundation concentrates on its footprint area (1024 m²) 35 times more macrozoobenthos biomass than the same area of soft bottom in the German exclusive economic zone (0.12 kg m(-2)), functioning as a biomass hotspot. Concerning the temporal biomass variation, we assume that at least 2700 kg biomass was exported on a yearly basis. 345 × 10(4) single mussel shells of different sizes were produced during the study period. It is anticipated that the M. edulis abundance will increase in the North Sea due to the expansion of the offshore wind farm development. This will result in the enhanced production of secondary hard substrate (mussel shells

Specific inflammatory response of Anemonia sulcata (Cnidaria) after bacterial injection causes tissue reaction and enzymatic activity alteration.

PubMed

Trapani, M R; Parisi, M G; Parrinello, D; Sanfratello, M A; Benenati, G; Palla, F; Cammarata, M

2016-03-01

The evolution of multicellular organisms was marked by adaptations to protect against pathogens. The mechanisms for discriminating the ''self'' from ''non-self" have evolved into a long history of cellular and molecular strategies, from damage repair to the co-evolution of host-pathogen interactions. We investigated the inflammatory response in Anemonia sulcata (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) following injection of substances that varied in type and dimension, and observed clear, strong and specific reactions, especially after injection of Escherichia coli and Vibrio alginolyticus. Moreover, we analyzed enzymatic activity of protease, phosphatase and esterase, showing how the injection of different bacterial strains alters the expression of these enzymes and suggesting a correlation between the appearance of the inflammatory reaction and the modification of enzymatic activities. Our study shows for the first time, a specific reaction and enzymatic responses following injection of bacteria in a cnidarian. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Germ Cell Development in the Scleractinian Coral Euphyllia ancora (Cnidaria, Anthozoa)

PubMed Central

Shikina, Shinya; Chen, Chieh-Jhen; Liou, Jhe-Yu; Shao, Zi-Fan; Chung, Yi-Jou; Lee, Yan-Horn; Chang, Ching-Fong

2012-01-01

Sexual reproduction of scleractinian coral is among the most important means of establishing coral populations. However, thus far, little is known about the mechanisms underlying coral gametogenesis. To better understand coral germ cell development, we performed a histological analysis of gametogenesis in Euphyllia ancora and characterized the coral homolog of the Drosophila germline marker gene vasa. The histological analysis revealed that E. ancora gametogenesis occurs in the mesenterial mesoglea between the mesenterial filaments and the retractor muscle bands. The development of germ cells takes approximately one year in females and half a year in males. Staining of tissue sections with an antibody against E. ancora Vasa (Eavas) revealed anti-Eavas immunoreactivity in the oogonia, early oocyte, and developing oocyte, but only faint or undetectable reactivity in developing oocytes that were >150 µm in diameters. In males, Eavas could be detected in the spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes but was only faintly detectable in the secondary spermatocytes, spermatids, and sperms. Furthermore, a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis and Western blotting analysis of unfertilized mature eggs proved the presence of Eavas transcripts and proteins, suggesting that Eavas may be a maternal factor. Vasa may represent a germ cell marker for corals, and would allow us to distinguish germ cells from somatic cells in coral bodies that have no distinct organs. PMID:22848529

Germ cell development in the scleractinian coral Euphyllia ancora (Cnidaria, Anthozoa).

PubMed

Shikina, Shinya; Chen, Chieh-Jhen; Liou, Jhe-Yu; Shao, Zi-Fan; Chung, Yi-Jou; Lee, Yan-Horn; Chang, Ching-Fong

2012-01-01

Sexual reproduction of scleractinian coral is among the most important means of establishing coral populations. However, thus far, little is known about the mechanisms underlying coral gametogenesis. To better understand coral germ cell development, we performed a histological analysis of gametogenesis in Euphyllia ancora and characterized the coral homolog of the Drosophila germline marker gene vasa. The histological analysis revealed that E. ancora gametogenesis occurs in the mesenterial mesoglea between the mesenterial filaments and the retractor muscle bands. The development of germ cells takes approximately one year in females and half a year in males. Staining of tissue sections with an antibody against E. ancora Vasa (Eavas) revealed anti-Eavas immunoreactivity in the oogonia, early oocyte, and developing oocyte, but only faint or undetectable reactivity in developing oocytes that were >150 µm in diameters. In males, Eavas could be detected in the spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes but was only faintly detectable in the secondary spermatocytes, spermatids, and sperms. Furthermore, a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis and Western blotting analysis of unfertilized mature eggs proved the presence of Eavas transcripts and proteins, suggesting that Eavas may be a maternal factor. Vasa may represent a germ cell marker for corals, and would allow us to distinguish germ cells from somatic cells in coral bodies that have no distinct organs.

New sea anemone (Anthozoa: Actiniaria) from Patagonia: Andvakia manoloi sp. nov.

PubMed

Lauretta, Daniel

2013-01-01

A new species of sea anemone from the intertidal zone of San Matias Gulf is described. Andvakia manoloi sp. nov. is a small and inconspicuous species that differs from other species of the genus in number of tentacles, number of mesenteries at proximal and distal part of the column, column division, muscles, cnidae, size, habit and distribution. Andvakia manoloi sp. nov. is the first species of the genus from South America and the southernmost record of the genus.

Phylogeny and systematics of deep-sea precious corals (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Coralliidae).

PubMed

Tu, Tzu-Hsuan; Dai, Chang-Feng; Jeng, Ming-Shiou

2015-03-01

The phylogeny of Coralliidae is being increasingly studied to elucidate their evolutionary history and species delimitation due to global concerns about their conservation. Previous studies on phylogenetic relationships within Coralliidae have pointed out that the two currently recognized genera are not monophyletic and the Coralliidae should be divided into three genera. In order to provide a comprehensive revision of the taxonomy of Coralliidae, we documented 110 specimens using eight mitochondrial and one nuclear loci to reconstruct their phylogeny. The morphological features of 27 type specimens were also examined. Phylogenetic relationships based on both mitochondrial and nuclear markers revealed two reciprocally monophyletic clades of Coralliidae. One of the clades was further split into two subclades with respect to sequence variation and observable morphological features. Based on the results of genealogical analyses and distinctive morphological features, the three genera classification of Coralliidae proposed by Gray (1867) was redefined. In this revised taxonomic system, Corallium, Hemicorallium, and Pleurocorallium consist of 7, 16 and 14 species, respectively. Our results also showed that the cosmopolitan Hemicorallium laauense is a species complex containing a cryptic species. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microsatellite abundance across the Anthozoa and Hydrozoa in the phylum Cnidaria.

PubMed

Ruiz-Ramos, Dannise V; Baums, Iliana B

2014-10-27

Microsatellite loci have high mutation rates and thus are indicative of mutational processes within the genome. By concentrating on the symbiotic and aposymbiotic cnidarians, we investigated if microsatellite abundances follow a phylogenetic or ecological pattern. Individuals from eight species were shotgun sequenced using 454 GS-FLX Titanium technology. Sequences from the three available cnidarian genomes (Nematostella vectensis, Hydra magnipapillata and Acropora digitifera) were added to the analysis for a total of eleven species representing two classes, three subclasses and eight orders within the phylum Cnidaria. Trinucleotide and tetranucleotide repeats were the most abundant motifs, followed by hexa- and dinucleotides. Pentanucleotides were the least abundant motif in the data set. Hierarchical clustering and log likelihood ratio tests revealed a weak relationship between phylogeny and microsatellite content. Further, comparisons between cnidaria harboring intracellular dinoflagellates and those that do not, show microsatellite coverage is higher in the latter group. Our results support previous studies that found tri- and tetranucleotides to be the most abundant motifs in invertebrates. Differences in microsatellite coverage and composition between symbiotic and non-symbiotic cnidaria suggest the presence/absence of dinoflagellates might place restrictions on the host genome.

Estimation of divergence times in cnidarian evolution based on mitochondrial protein-coding genes and the fossil record.

PubMed

Park, Eunji; Hwang, Dae-Sik; Lee, Jae-Seong; Song, Jun-Im; Seo, Tae-Kun; Won, Yong-Jin

2012-01-01

The phylum Cnidaria is comprised of remarkably diverse and ecologically significant taxa, such as the reef-forming corals, and occupies a basal position in metazoan evolution. The origin of this phylum and the most recent common ancestors (MRCAs) of its modern classes remain mostly unknown, although scattered fossil evidence provides some insights on this topic. Here, we investigate the molecular divergence times of the major taxonomic groups of Cnidaria (27 Hexacorallia, 16 Octocorallia, and 5 Medusozoa) on the basis of mitochondrial DNA sequences of 13 protein-coding genes. For this analysis, the complete mitochondrial genomes of seven octocoral and two scyphozoan species were newly sequenced and combined with all available mitogenomic data from GenBank. Five reliable fossil dates were used to calibrate the Bayesian estimates of divergence times. The molecular evidence suggests that cnidarians originated 741 million years ago (Ma) (95% credible region of 686-819), and the major taxa diversified prior to the Cambrian (543 Ma). The Octocorallia and Scleractinia may have originated from radiations of survivors of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, which matches their fossil record well. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Palytoxin isolated from marine coelenterates. The inhibitory action on (Na,K)-ATPase.

PubMed

Ishida, Y; Takagi, K; Takahashi, M; Satake, N; Shibata, S

1983-07-10

Palytoxin (PTX), C129H223N3O54, a highly toxic substance isolated from zoanthids of Palythoa tuberculosa, inhibited (Na,K)-ATPase (ATP phosphohydrolase, EC 3.6.1.3) prepared from guinea pig heart and hog cerebral cortex in a dose-dependent manner at concentrations greater than 10(-8) M. In the presence of Na (100 mM) and K (20 mM), PTX showed potency nearly equal to that of ouabain. When the ATPase was activated by the various Na concentrations at a constant K concentration, both PTX and ouabain inhibited the ATPase activity noncompetitively. On the other hand, when K concentration was changed at a constant Na concentration, PTX caused a competitive inhibition in all ranges of K concentrations employed, whereas ouabain caused a competitive inhibition at low concentrations and a noncompetitive inhibition at high concentrations.

Metabolomic profiling reveals deep chemical divergence between two morphotypes of the zoanthid Parazoanthus axinellae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cachet, Nadja; Genta-Jouve, Grégory; Ivanisevic, Julijana; Chevaldonné, Pierre; Sinniger, Frédéric; Culioli, Gérald; Pérez, Thierry; Thomas, Olivier P.

2015-02-01

Metabolomics has recently proven its usefulness as complementary tool to traditional morphological and genetic analyses for the classification of marine invertebrates. Among the metabolite-rich cnidarian order Zoantharia, Parazoanthus is a polyphyletic genus whose systematics and phylogeny remain controversial. Within this genus, one of the most studied species, Parazoanthus axinellae is prominent in rocky shallow waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the NE Atlantic Ocean. Although different morphotypes can easily be distinguished, only one species is recognized to date. Here, a metabolomic profiling approach has been used to assess the chemical diversity of two main Mediterranean morphotypes, the ``slender'' and ``stocky'' forms of P. axinellae. Targeted profiling of their major secondary metabolites revealed a significant chemical divergence between the morphotypes. While zoanthoxanthin alkaloids and ecdysteroids are abundant in both morphs, the ``slender'' morphotype is characterized by the presence of additional and bioactive 3,5-disubstituted hydantoin derivatives named parazoanthines. The absence of these specific compounds in the ``stocky'' morphotype was confirmed by spatial and temporal monitoring over an annual cycle. Moreover, specimens of the ``slender'' morphotype are also the only ones found as epibionts of several sponge species, particularly Cymbaxinella damicornis thus suggesting a putative ecological link.

Metabolomic profiling reveals deep chemical divergence between two morphotypes of the zoanthid Parazoanthus axinellae

PubMed Central

Cachet, Nadja; Genta-Jouve, Grégory; Ivanisevic, Julijana; Chevaldonné, Pierre; Sinniger, Frédéric; Culioli, Gérald; Pérez, Thierry; Thomas, Olivier P.

2015-01-01

Metabolomics has recently proven its usefulness as complementary tool to traditional morphological and genetic analyses for the classification of marine invertebrates. Among the metabolite-rich cnidarian order Zoantharia, Parazoanthus is a polyphyletic genus whose systematics and phylogeny remain controversial. Within this genus, one of the most studied species, Parazoanthus axinellae is prominent in rocky shallow waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the NE Atlantic Ocean. Although different morphotypes can easily be distinguished, only one species is recognized to date. Here, a metabolomic profiling approach has been used to assess the chemical diversity of two main Mediterranean morphotypes, the “slender” and “stocky” forms of P. axinellae. Targeted profiling of their major secondary metabolites revealed a significant chemical divergence between the morphotypes. While zoanthoxanthin alkaloids and ecdysteroids are abundant in both morphs, the “slender” morphotype is characterized by the presence of additional and bioactive 3,5-disubstituted hydantoin derivatives named parazoanthines. The absence of these specific compounds in the “stocky” morphotype was confirmed by spatial and temporal monitoring over an annual cycle. Moreover, specimens of the “slender” morphotype are also the only ones found as epibionts of several sponge species, particularly Cymbaxinella damicornis thus suggesting a putative ecological link. PMID:25655432

A family of GFP-like proteins with different spectral properties in lancelet Branchiostoma floridae

PubMed Central

Baumann, Diana; Cook, Malcolm; Ma, Limei; Mushegian, Arcady; Sanders, Erik; Schwartz, Joel; Yu, C Ron

2008-01-01

Background Members of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) family share sequence similarity and the 11-stranded β-barrel fold. Fluorescence or bright coloration, observed in many members of this family, is enabled by the intrinsic properties of the polypeptide chain itself, without the requirement for cofactors. Amino acid sequence of fluorescent proteins can be altered by genetic engineering to produce variants with different spectral properties, suitable for direct visualization of molecular and cellular processes. Naturally occurring GFP-like proteins include fluorescent proteins from cnidarians of the Hydrozoa and Anthozoa classes, and from copepods of the Pontellidae family, as well as non-fluorescent proteins from Anthozoa. Recently, an mRNA encoding a fluorescent GFP-like protein AmphiGFP, related to GFP from Pontellidae, has been isolated from the lancelet Branchiostoma floridae, a cephalochordate (Deheyn et al., Biol Bull, 2007 213:95). Results We report that the nearly-completely sequenced genome of Branchiostoma floridae encodes at least 12 GFP-like proteins. The evidence for expression of six of these genes can be found in the EST databases. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that a gene encoding a GFP-like protein was present in the common ancestor of Cnidaria and Bilateria. We synthesized and expressed two of the lancelet GFP-like proteins in mammalian cells and in bacteria. One protein, which we called LanFP1, exhibits bright green fluorescence in both systems. The other protein, LanFP2, is identical to AmphiGFP in amino acid sequence and is moderately fluorescent. Live imaging of the adult animals revealed bright green fluorescence at the anterior end and in the basal region of the oral cirri, as well as weaker green signals throughout the body of the animal. In addition, red fluorescence was observed in oral cirri, extending to the tips. Conclusion GFP-like proteins may have been present in the primitive Metazoa. Their evolutionary history includes

Interconversion of Anthozoa GFP-like fluorescent and non-fluorescent proteins by mutagenesis

PubMed Central

Bulina, Maria E; Chudakov, Dmitry M; Mudrik, Nikolay N; Lukyanov, Konstantin A

2002-01-01

Background Within the family of green fluorescent protein (GFP) homologs, one can mark two main groups, specifically, fluorescent proteins (FPs) and non-fluorescent or chromoproteins (CPs). Structural background of differences between FPs and CPs are poorly understood to date. Results Here, we applied site-directed and random mutagenesis in order to to transform CP into FP and vice versa. A purple chromoprotein asCP (asFP595) from Anemonia sulcata and a red fluorescent protein DsRed from Discosoma sp. were selected as representatives of CPs and FPs, respectively. For asCP, some substitutions at positions 148 and 165 (numbering in accordance to GFP) were found to dramatically increase quantum yield of red fluorescence. For DsRed, substitutions at positions 148, 165, 167, and 203 significantly decreased fluorescence intensity, so that the spectral characteristics of these mutants became more close to those of CPs. Finally, a practically non-fluorescent mutant DsRed-NF was generated. This mutant carried four amino acid substitutions, specifically, S148C, I165N, K167M, and S203A. DsRed-NF possessed a high extinction coefficient and an extremely low quantum yield (< 0.001). These spectral characteristics allow one to regard DsRed-NF as a true chromoprotein. Conclusions We located a novel point in asCP sequence (position 165) mutations at which can result in red fluorescence appearance. Probably, this finding could be applied onto other CPs to generate red and far-red fluorescent mutants. A possibility to transform an FP into CP was demonstrated. Key role of residues adjacent to chromophore's phenolic ring in fluorescent/non-fluorescent states determination was revealed. PMID:11972899

Cracks in the beta-can: fluorescent proteins from Anemonia sulcata (Anthozoa, Actinaria).

PubMed

Wiedenmann, J; Elke, C; Spindler, K D; Funke, W

2000-12-19

We characterize two green fluorescent proteins (GFPs), an orange fluorescent protein, and a nonfluorescent red protein isolated from the sea anemone Anemonia sulcata. The orange fluorescent protein and the red protein seem to represent two different states of the same protein. Furthermore, we describe the cloning of a GFP and a nonfluorescent red protein. Both proteins are homologous to the GFP from Aequorea victoria. The red protein is significantly smaller than other GFP homologues, and the formation of a closed GFP-like beta-can is not possible. Nevertheless, the primary structure of the red protein carries all features necessary for orange fluorescence. We discuss a type of beta-can that could be formed in a multimerization process.

Cracks in the β-can: Fluorescent proteins from Anemonia sulcata (Anthozoa, Actinaria)

PubMed Central

Wiedenmann, Jörg; Elke, Carsten; Spindler, Klaus-Dieter; Funke, Werner

2000-01-01

We characterize two green fluorescent proteins (GFPs), an orange fluorescent protein, and a nonfluorescent red protein isolated from the sea anemone Anemonia sulcata. The orange fluorescent protein and the red protein seem to represent two different states of the same protein. Furthermore, we describe the cloning of a GFP and a nonfluorescent red protein. Both proteins are homologous to the GFP from Aequorea victoria. The red protein is significantly smaller than other GFP homologues, and the formation of a closed GFP-like β-can is not possible. Nevertheless, the primary structure of the red protein carries all features necessary for orange fluorescence. We discuss a type of β-can that could be formed in a multimerization process. PMID:11121018

A revision of the octocoral genus Ovabunda Alderslade, 2001 (Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Xeniidae)

PubMed Central

Halász, Anna; McFadden, Catherine S.; Aharonovich, Dafna; Toonen, Robert; Benayahu, Yehuda

2014-01-01

Abstract The family Xeniidae (Octocorallia) constitutes an abundant benthic component on many Indo-West Pacific coral reefs and is ecologically important in the Red Sea. The genus Ovabunda Alderslade, 2001 was recently established to accommodate previous Xenia species with sclerites comprised of a mass of minute corpuscle-shaped microscleres. The aim of the present study was to examine type material of Xenia species in order to verify their generic affiliation. We present here a comprehensive account of the genus Ovabunda, using scanning electron microscopy to depict sclerite microstructure. We assign three Xenia species to the genus: O. ainex comb. n., O. gohari comb. n., and O. crenata comb. n.; and synonymize several other species of Ovabunda. We provide a key to Ovabunda species and conclude that they are mainly confined to the Red Sea, with some occurrence in the West Indian Ocean. PMID:24493958

Two new species of Chrysopathes (Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Antipatharia) from the western Atlantic

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Opresko, Dennis M; Loiola, L. de Laia

2008-02-01

Two new species of Chrysopathes are described, C. oligocrada from Yucatan and Brazil, and C. micracantha from the southeastern coast of the U.S. and Brazil. Chrysopathes oligocrada is characterized by lateral pinnules mostly 7 8 mm long (to 2 cm); 18 21 primary pinnules per cm; anterior-most primary pinnules with no more than one secondary pinnule (absent on some); some posterior primaries with a single secondary pinnule; lateral primary pinnules usually simple, rarely with a single subpinnule; tertiary pinnules absent; pinnular spines to 0.07 mm. This species is similar to C. formosa Opresko 2003 from the Pacific; the latter speciesmore » differing in density of pinnulation (15 18 per cm) and size of the spines (to 0.16 mm). Chrysopathes micracantha is characterized by lateral pinnules mostly 5 6 mm long (to 2 cm); 24 33 primary pinnules per cm; anterior and posterior primary pinnules with as many as two subopposite secondary pinnules; lateral primary pinnules usually simple but with subpinnules on the thicker branches and stem; tertiary pinnules rarely present; pinnular spines to 0.1 mm. Chrysopathes micracantha is similar to C. speciosa Opresko 2003 from the Pacific, the latter species differing in a greater number of secondary pinnules per primary (three or more) and in size of the spines (to 0.18 mm).« less

Internal and external relationships of the Cnidaria: implications of primary and predicted secondary structure of the 5'-end of the 23S-like rDNA.

PubMed Central

Odorico, D M; Miller, D J

1997-01-01

Since both internal (class-level) and external relationships of the Cnidaria remain unclear on the basis of analyses of 18S and (partial) 16S rDNA sequence data, we examined the informativeness of the 5'-end of the 23S-like rDNA. Here we describe analyses of both primary and predicted secondary structure data for this region from the ctenophore Bolinopsis sp., the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens, the sponge Hymeniacidon heliophila, and representatives of all four cnidarian classes. Primary sequence analyses clearly resolved the Cnidaria from other lower Metazoa, supported sister group relationships between the Scyphozoa and Cubozoa and between the Ctenophora and the Placozoa, and confirmed the basal status of the Anthozoa within the Cnidaria. Additionally, in the ctenophore, placozoan and sponge, non-canonical base pairing is required to maintain the secondary structure of the B12 region, whereas amongst the Cnidaria this is not the case. Although the phylogenetic significance of this molecular character is unclear, our analyses do not support the close relationship between Cnidaria and Placozoa suggested by previous studies. PMID:9061962

Diffusion Limitation and Hyperoxic Enhancement of Oxygen Consumption in Zooxanthellate Sea Anemones, Zoanthids, and Corals.

PubMed

Shick, J M

1990-08-01

Depending on their size and morphology, anthozoan polyps and colonies may be diffusion-limited in their oxygen consumption, even under well-stirred, air-saturated conditions. This is indicated by an enhancement of oxygen consumption under steady-state hyperoxic conditions that simulate the levels of O2 produced photosynthetically by zooxanthellae in the hosts' tissues. Such hyperoxia in the tissues of zooxanthellate species negates the effect of the diffusive boundary layer, and increases the rate of oxygen consumption; thus, in many cases, the rate of respiration measured under normoxia in the dark may not be representative of the rate during the day when the zooxanthellae are photosynthesizing and when the supply of oxygen for respiration is in the tissues themselves, not from the environment. These results have implications in respirometric methodology and in calculating the rate of gross photosynthesis in energetic studies. The activity of cytochrome c oxidase is higher in aposymbiotic than in zooxanthellate specimens of the sea anemone Aiptasia pulchella, and this may indicate a compensation for the relative hypoxia in the tissues of the former, enhancing the delivery of oxygen to the mitochondria from the environment.

Description of the mitochondrial genome of the tree coral Dendrophyllia arbuscula (Anthozoa, Scleractinia).

PubMed

Luz, Bruna Louise Pereira; Capel, Kátia Cristina Cruz; Stampar, Sérgio Nascimento; Kitahara, Marcelo Visentini

2016-07-01

Dendrophylliidae is one of the few monophyletic families within the Scleractinia that embraces zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate species represented by both solitary and colonial forms. Among the exclusively azooxanthellate genera, Dendrophyllia is reported worldwide from 1 to 1200 m deep. To date, although three complete mitochondrial (mt) genomes from representatives of the family are available, only that from Turbinaria peltata has been formally published. Here we describe the complete nucleotide sequence of the mt genome from Dendrophyllia arbuscula that is 19 069 bp in length and comprises two rDNAs, two tRNAs, and 13 protein-coding genes arranged in the canonical scleractinian mt gene order. No genes overlap, resulting in the presence of 18 intergenic spacers and one of the longest scleractinian mt genome sequenced to date.

Isolation and identification of chitin in the black coral Parantipathes larix (Anthozoa: Cnidaria).

PubMed

Bo, Marzia; Bavestrello, Giorgio; Kurek, Denis; Paasch, Silvia; Brunner, Eike; Born, René; Galli, Roberta; Stelling, Allison L; Sivkov, Viktor N; Petrova, Olga V; Vyalikh, Denis; Kummer, Kurt; Molodtsov, Serguei L; Nowak, Dorota; Nowak, Jakub; Ehrlich, Hermann

2012-01-01

Until now, there is a lack of knowledge about the presence of chitin in numerous representatives of corals (Cnidaria). However, investigations concerning the chitin-based skeletal organization in different coral taxa are significant from biochemical, structural, developmental, ecological and evolutionary points of view. In this paper, we present a thorough screening for the presence of chitin within the skeletal formations of a poorly investigated Mediterranean black coral, Parantipathes larix (Esper, 1792), as a typical representative of the Schizopathidae family. Using a wide array variety of techniques ((13)C solid state NMR, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman, NEXAFS, Morgan-Elson assay and Calcofluor White Staining), we unambiguously show for the first time that chitin is an important component within the skeletal stalks as well as pinnules of this coral. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fortpflanzung und Sexualität von Cereus pedunculatus und Actinia equina (Anthozoa, Actiniaria)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schäfer, W.

1981-12-01

Sexuality and reproductive behaviour of Cereus pedunculatus (Pennant) and several forms (subspecies) of Actinia equina (L.) from populations collected along the French Atlantic Sea coast and in different habitats along the European Mediterranean coast were studied. At the stage of 96 septae C. pedunculatus and A. e. atlantica II exhibited mature oocytes which developed parthenogenetically into larvae. The latter appeared simultaneously in the gastrocoele. Adolescent A. e. atlantica II developed very few mature oocytes and larvae. Following a sterile period, oocytes and young individuals of different age groups were present almost throughout the whole year in adult anemones. A. e. mediterranea I was dioecious and oviparous in any habitat observed. Samples of the larviparous A. e. mediterranea II (collected near Banyuls, France) exhibited male gonads exclusively and contained larvae. Spontaneous longitudinal fission was occasionally observed in adult A. e. mediterranea I and adolescent A. e. atlantica II.

Cnidarian Neurotoxic Peptides Affecting Central Nervous System Targets.

PubMed

Lazcano-Pérez, Fernando; Hernández-Guzmán, Ulises; Sánchez-Rodríguez, Judith; Arreguín-Espinosa, Roberto

2016-01-01

Natural products from animal venoms have been used widely in the discovery of novel molecules with particular biological activities that enable their use as potential drug candidates. The phylum Cnidaria (jellyfish, sea anemones, corals zoanthids, hydrozoans, etc.) is the most ancient venomous phylum on earth. Its venoms are composed of a complex mixture of peptidic compounds with neurotoxic and cytolitic properties that have shown activity on mammalian systems despite the fact that they are naturally targeted against fish and invertebrate preys, mainly crustaceans. For this reason, cnidarian venoms are an interesting and vast source of molecules with a remarkable activity on central nervous system, targeting mainly voltage-gated ion channels, ASIC channels, and TRPV1 receptors. In this brief review, we list the amino acid sequences of most cnidarian neurotoxic peptides reported to date. Additionally, we propose the inclusion of a new type of voltage-gated sea anemone sodium channel toxins based on the most recent reports.

Deep-sea dives reveal an unexpected hexactinellid sponge garden on the Rio Grande Rise (SW Atlantic). A mimicking habitat?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hajdu, Eduardo; Castello-Branco, Cristiana; Lopes, Daniela A.; Sumida, Paulo Yukio Gomes; Perez, Jose Angel Alvarez

2017-12-01

Long overlooked, sponge grounds are now recognised as important habitats which support high biodiversity. Some of these deep-sea sponge aggregations are formed by hexactinellids, in varying densities, which can occur on both soft and hard substrates. Despite their ecological importance as habitat framework building taxa, hexactinellids have been little studied and only 33 species in this Class were reported from the entire South Atlantic until now. Most of this knowledge was gained from studies conducted on the eastern South America continental slope. Here we report a new hexactinellid sponge garden found by the Shinkai 6500 manned submersible on the Rio Grande Rise, a prominent topographic feature of the deep SW Atlantic. This is the first sponge garden worldwide found to be dominated by the stiff, often dichotomously branching, Sarostegia oculata which may occur in densities of over 5 individuals per square meter. This sponge, of uncertain familial allocation, seems to always carry epibiotic zoanthids, thus mimicking the 3D skeletal framework of actual coral gardens

Spatial distribution of epibenthic molluscs on a sandstone reef in the Northeast of Brazil.

PubMed

Martinez, A S; Mendes, L F; Leite, T S

2012-05-01

The present study investigated the distribution and abundance of epibenthic molluscs and their feeding habits associated to substrate features (coverage and rugosity) in a sandstone reef system in the Northeast of Brazil. Rugosity, low coral cover and high coverage of zoanthids and fleshy alga were the variables that influenced a low richness and high abundance of a few molluscan species in the reef habitat. The most abundant species were generalist carnivores, probably associated to a lesser offer and variability of resources in this type of reef system, when compared to the coral reefs. The results found in this study could reflect a normal characteristic of the molluscan community distribution in sandstone reefs, with low coral cover, or could indicate a degradation state of this habitat if it is compared to coral reefs, once that the significantly high coverage of fleshy alga has been recognized as a negative indicator of reef ecosystems health.

Palytoxins and cytoskeleton: An overview.

PubMed

Louzao, M Carmen; Ares, Isabel R; Cagide, Eva; Espiña, Begoña; Vilariño, Natalia; Alfonso, Amparo; Vieytes, Mercedes R; Botana, Luis M

2011-03-01

Cytoskeleton is a dynamic structure essential for a wide variety of normal cellular processes, including the maintenance of cell shape and morphology, volume regulation, membrane dynamics and signal transduction. Cytoskeleton is organized into microtubules, actin meshwork and intermediate filaments. Actin has been identified as a major target for destruction during apoptosis and is also important under pathological conditions such as cancers. Several natural compounds actively modulate actin organization by specific signaling cascades being useful tools to study cytoskeleton dynamics. Palytoxin is a large bioactive compound, first isolated from zoanthids, with a complex structure and different analogs such as ostreocin-D or ovatoxin-a. This toxin has been identified as a potent tumor promoter and cytotoxic molecule, which leads to actin filament distortion and triggers cell death or apoptosis. In this review we report the findings on the involvement of palytoxin and analogues modulating the actin cytoskeleton within different cellular models. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genome-Based Analyses of Six Hexacorallian Species Reject the "Naked Coral" Hypothesis.

PubMed

Wang, Xin; Drillon, Guénola; Ryu, Taewoo; Voolstra, Christian R; Aranda, Manuel

2017-10-01

Scleractinian corals are the foundation species of the coral-reef ecosystem. Their calcium carbonate skeletons form extensive structures that are home to millions of species, making coral reefs one of the most diverse ecosystems of our planet. However, our understanding of how reef-building corals have evolved the ability to calcify and become the ecosystem builders they are today is hampered by uncertain relationships within their subclass Hexacorallia. Corallimorpharians have been proposed to originate from a complex scleractinian ancestor that lost the ability to calcify in response to increasing ocean acidification, suggesting the possibility for corals to lose and gain the ability to calcify in response to increasing ocean acidification. Here, we employed a phylogenomic approach using whole-genome data from six hexacorallian species to resolve the evolutionary relationship between reef-building corals and their noncalcifying relatives. Phylogenetic analysis based on 1,421 single-copy orthologs, as well as gene presence/absence and synteny information, converged on the same topologies, showing strong support for scleractinian monophyly and a corallimorpharian sister clade. Our broad phylogenomic approach using sequence-based and sequence-independent analyses provides unambiguous evidence for the monophyly of scleractinian corals and the rejection of corallimorpharians as descendants of a complex coral ancestor. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

470-Million-year-old black corals from China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baliński, Andrzej; Sun, Yuanlin; Dzik, Jerzy

2012-08-01

Phosphatic (possibly secondarily phosphatised) remains of antipatharian coralla, previously unknown in the fossil record, occur abundantly in the early Ordovician Fenxiang Formation in the Hubei Province, southern China. Probably two species (and genera) are represented, which differ in spinosity of branches. The more spinose one, Sinopathes reptans, has its lateral spines bearing regular, longitudinally arranged costellae. The early Floian geological age of this finding, about 470 Ma, supports predictions on the timing of anthozoan phylogeny derived from the molecular phylogenetic evidence. Black corals (Antipatharia) are basal to the scleractinians in the Hexacorallia clade, being more derived than sea anemones and the Zoantharia. Based on calibration of the molecular clock with Mesozoic data, the first split of lineages within the scleractinian hexacorals was proposed to take place approximately 425 million years ago. This implies that the origin of Antipatharia should precede this date. They have not been known in the fossil record because of unmineralised skeleton composed primarily of laminar chitin complexed with a protein. Unlike all recent species, the encrusting basal part of the colony dominated in the Ordovician ones and only occasionally erect branches developed, rather chaotically ramified. This presumably plesiomorphic trait seems consistent with ancient geological age and suggests that some problematic fossils from the Late Cambrian may be their, even less-derived, relatives.

Diversity of culturable yeasts associated with zoanthids from Brazilian reef and its relation with anthropogenic disturbance.

PubMed

Paulino, Gustavo Vasconcelos Bastos; Félix, Ciro Ramon; Broetto, Leonardo; Landell, Melissa Fontes

2017-10-15

Some of the main threats to coral reefs come from human actions on marine environment, such as tourism, overfishing and pollution from urban development. While several studies have demonstrated an association between bacteria and corals, demonstrating how these communities react to different anthropogenic stressors, yeast communities associated with corals have received far less attention from researchers. The aim of this work was therefore to describe cultivable yeasts associated with three coral species and to evaluate the influence of sewage discharge on yeasts community. We obtained 130 isolates, mostly belonging to phylum Ascomycota and many of them had previously been isolated from human samples or are considered pathogens. The mycobiota was more similar among corals collected from the same reef, indicating that the composition of reef yeast community is more influenced by environmental conditions than host species. We suggest further studies to elucidate which factors are most influential on the composition of the coral-associated yeast community. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DNA barcoding as a tool for coral reef conservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neigel, J.; Domingo, A.; Stake, J.

2007-09-01

DNA Barcoding (DBC) is a method for taxonomic identification of animals that is based entirely on the 5' portion of the mitochondrial gene, cytochrome oxidase subunit I ( COI-5). It can be especially useful for identification of larval forms or incomplete specimens lacking diagnostic morphological characters. DBC can also facilitate the discovery of species and in defining “molecular taxonomic units” in problematic groups. However, DBC is not a panacea for coral reef taxonomy. In two of the most ecologically important groups on coral reefs, the Anthozoa and Porifera, COI-5 sequences have diverged too little to be diagnostic for all species. Other problems for DBC include paraphyly in mitochondrial gene trees and lack of differentiation between hybrids and their maternal ancestors. DBC also depends on the availability of databases of COI-5 sequences, which are still in early stages of development. A global effort to barcode all fish species has demonstrated the importance of large-scale coordination and is yielding promising results. Whether or not COI-5 by itself is sufficient for species assignments has become a contentious question; it is generally advantageous to use sequences from multiple loci.

Localized expression of a dpp/BMP2/4 ortholog in a coral embryo

PubMed Central

Hayward, David C.; Samuel, Gabrielle; Pontynen, Patricia C.; Catmull, Julian; Saint, Robert; Miller, David J.; Ball, Eldon E.

2002-01-01

As the closest outgroup to the Bilateria, the Phylum Cnidaria is likely to be critical to understanding the origins and evolution of body axes. Proteins of the decapentaplegic (DPP)/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) 2/4 subfamily are central to the specification of the dorsoventral (D/V) axis in bilateral animals, albeit with an axis inversion between arthropods and chordates. We show that a dpp/BMP2/4 ortholog (bmp2/4-Am) is present in the reef-building scleractinian coral, Acropora millepora (Class Anthozoa) and that it is capable of causing phenotypic effects in Drosophila that mimic those of the endogenous dpp gene. We also show that, during coral embryonic development, bmp2/4-Am expression is localized in an ectodermal region adjacent to the blastopore. Thus, a representative of the DPP/BMP2/4 subfamily of ligands was present in the common ancestor of diploblastic and triploblastic animals where it was probably expressed in a localized fashion during development. A localized source of DPP/BMP2/4 may have already been used in axis formation in this ancestor, or it may have provided a means by which an axis could evolve in triploblastic animals. PMID:12048233

An ancient role for nuclear beta-catenin in the evolution of axial polarity and germ layer segregation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wikramanayake, Athula H.; Hong, Melanie; Lee, Patricia N.; Pang, Kevin; Byrum, Christine A.; Bince, Joanna M.; Xu, Ronghui; Martindale, Mark Q.

2003-01-01

The human oncogene beta-catenin is a bifunctional protein with critical roles in both cell adhesion and transcriptional regulation in the Wnt pathway. Wnt/beta-catenin signalling has been implicated in developmental processes as diverse as elaboration of embryonic polarity, formation of germ layers, neural patterning, spindle orientation and gap junction communication, but the ancestral function of beta-catenin remains unclear. In many animal embryos, activation of beta-catenin signalling occurs in blastomeres that mark the site of gastrulation and endomesoderm formation, raising the possibility that asymmetric activation of beta-catenin signalling specified embryonic polarity and segregated germ layers in the common ancestor of bilaterally symmetrical animals. To test whether nuclear translocation of beta-catenin is involved in axial identity and/or germ layer formation in 'pre-bilaterians', we examined the in vivo distribution, stability and function of beta-catenin protein in embryos of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). Here we show that N. vectensis beta-catenin is differentially stabilized along the oral-aboral axis, translocated into nuclei in cells at the site of gastrulation and used to specify entoderm, indicating an evolutionarily ancient role for this protein in early pattern formation.

Interactions of cnidarian toxins with the immune system.

PubMed

Suput, Dusan

2011-10-01

Cnidarians comprise four classes of toxic marine animals: Anthozoa, Cubozoa, Scyphozoa and Hydrozoa. They are the largest and probably the oldest phylum of toxic marine animals. Any contact with a cnidarian, especially the box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri), can be fatal, but most cnidarians do not possess sufficiently strong venomous apparatus to penetrate the human skin, whereas others rarely come into contact with human beings. Only a small, almost negligible percentage of the vast wealth of cnidarian toxins has been studied in detail. Many polypeptide cnidarian toxins are immunogenic, and cross-reactivity between several jellyfish venoms has been reported. Cnidarians also possess components of innate immunity, and some of those components have been preserved in evolution. On the other hand, cnidarian toxins have already been used for the design of immunotoxins to treat cancer, whereas other cnidarian toxins can modulate the immune system in mammals, including man. This review will focus on a short overview of cnidarian toxins, on the innate immunity of cnidarians, and on the mode of action of cnidarian toxins which can modulate the immune system in mammals. Emphasis is palced on those toxins which block voltage activated potassium channels in the cells of the immune system.

Functional studies on the role of Notch signaling in Hydractinia development.

PubMed

Gahan, James M; Schnitzler, Christine E; DuBuc, Timothy Q; Doonan, Liam B; Kanska, Justyna; Gornik, Sebastian G; Barreira, Sofia; Thompson, Kerry; Schiffer, Philipp; Baxevanis, Andreas D; Frank, Uri

2017-08-01

The function of Notch signaling was previously studied in two cnidarians, Hydra and Nematostella, representing the lineages Hydrozoa and Anthozoa, respectively. Using pharmacological inhibition in Hydra and a combination of pharmacological and genetic approaches in Nematostella, it was shown in both animals that Notch is required for tentacle morphogenesis and for late stages of stinging cell maturation. Surprisingly, a role for Notch in neural development, which is well documented in bilaterians, was evident in embryonic Nematostella but not in adult Hydra. Adult neurogenesis in the latter seemed to be unaffected by DAPT, a drug that inhibits Notch signaling. To address this apparent discrepancy, we studied the role of Notch in Hydractinia echinata, an additional hydrozoan, in all life stages. Using CRISPR-Cas9 mediated mutagenesis, transgenesis, and pharmacological interference we show that Notch is dispensable for Hydractinia normal neurogenesis in all life stages but is required for the maturation of stinging cells and for tentacle morphogenesis. Our results are consistent with a conserved role for Notch in morphogenesis and nematogenesis across Cnidaria, and a lineage-specific loss of Notch dependence in neurogenesis in hydrozoans. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sea anemones (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Actiniaria) from coral reefs in the southern Gulf of Mexico.

PubMed

González-Muñoz, Ricardo; Simões, Nuno; Tello-Musi, José Luis; Rodríguez, Estefanía

2013-01-01

Seven sea anemone species from coral reefs in the southern Gulf of Mexico are taxonomically diagnosed and images from living specimens including external and internal features, and cnidae are provided. Furthermore, the known distribution ranges from another 10 species are extended. No species records of sea anemones have been previously published in the primary scientific literature for coral reefs in the southern Gulf of Mexico and thus, this study represents the first inventory for the local actiniarian fauna.

Sea anemones (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Actiniaria) from coral reefs in the southern Gulf of Mexico

PubMed Central

González-Muñoz, Ricardo; Simões, Nuno; Tello-Musi, José Luis; Rodríguez, Estefanía

2013-01-01

Abstract Seven sea anemone species from coral reefs in the southern Gulf of Mexico are taxonomically diagnosed and images from living specimens including external and internal features, and cnidae are provided. Furthermore, the known distribution ranges from another 10 species are extended. No species records of sea anemones have been previously published in the primary scientific literature for coral reefs in the southern Gulf of Mexico and thus, this study represents the first inventory for the local actiniarian fauna. PMID:24146599

Polymorphic Microsatellite Loci for Endemic Mussismilia Corals (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) of the Southwest Atlantic Ocean.

PubMed

Zilberberg, Carla; Peluso, Lívia; Marques, Jessica A; Cunha, Haydée

2014-01-01

In the Southwest Atlantic, coral reefs are unique due to their growth form, low species richness, and a high level of endemic coral species, which include the most important reef builders. Although these reefs are the only true biogenic reefs in the South Atlantic Ocean, population genetic studies are still lacking. The purpose of this study was to develop a suite of microsatellite loci to help gain insights into the population diversity and connectivity of the endemic scleractinian coral with the largest distributional range along the Southwest Atlantic coast, Mussismilia hispida Fourteen microsatellite loci were characterized, and their degree of polymorphism was analyzed in 33 individuals. The number of alleles varied between 4 and 17 per loci, and H o varied between 0.156 and 0.928, with 2 loci showing significant heterozygote deficiency. Cross-amplification tests on the other 2 species of the genus (Mussismilia braziliensis and Mussismilia harttii) demonstrated that these markers are suitable for studies of population diversity and structure of all 3 species of Mussismilia Because they are the most important reef builders in the Southwest Atlantic, the developed microsatellite loci may be important tools for connectivity and conservation studies of these endemic corals. © The American Genetic Association 2014. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Release of sperm clusters in spheres by the black coral Cupressopathes pumila (Anthozoa, Antipatharia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaino, E.; Scoccia, F.

2009-12-01

Fecund polyps from a bottlebrush-shaped colony of black coral Cupressopathes pumila (Brook 1889) from Ambon Island (Maluku Archipelago, Indonesia) were studied at the structural and ultrastructural levels. Five fragments, each 5 cm long and containing about 60 polyps, were cut from a single parental colony. The fragments underwent different treatments: two were fixed in 70% alcohol for species identification; the remaining three were reared in aerated aquaria and then processed for anatomic studies by light and transmission electron microscopy. Some polyps from one of these reared fragments displayed spheres of various sizes protruding from the mouth. Four hours after sampling, spheres settled on the bottom of the aquarium. Comparative analysis of the fecund polyps showed: (i) the differentiation of spermatocysts inside the transverse primary mesenteries that separate the lateral tentacles from one another; (ii) spermatocysts entering the gastric cavity after breakage of the mesentery wall and (iii) location of spermatocysts close to the basal part of the pharynx. Analysis of the largest spheres, both close to the external surface of the mouth and settled on the bottom of the small aerated aquaria, showed that they were irregularly bordered with residual mesentery tissue and contained clusters of spermatocysts. Gametes presented various phases of differentiation up to the final sperm, as it occurs in the spermatocysts developing inside the mesenteries of the fecund polyps. In consideration of the particular distribution of the colonies of C. pumila, which grow very far apart, the release of buoyant spheres is a particular modality of spawning which can be viewed as a strategy for successful fertilisation over long distances.

The Mucus of Actinia equina (Anthozoa, Cnidaria): An Unexplored Resource for Potential Applicative Purposes.

PubMed

Stabili, Loredana; Schirosi, Roberto; Parisi, Maria Giovanna; Piraino, Stefano; Cammarata, Matteo

2015-08-19

The mucus produced by many marine organisms is a complex mixture of proteins and polysaccharides forming a weak watery gel. It is essential for vital processes including locomotion, navigation, structural support, heterotrophic feeding and defence against a multitude of environmental stresses, predators, parasites, and pathogens. In the present study we focused on mucus produced by a benthic cnidarian, the sea anemone Actinia equina (Linnaeus, 1758) for preventing burial by excess sedimentation and for protection. We investigated some of the physico-chemical properties of this matrix such as viscosity, osmolarity, electrical conductivity, protein, carbohydrate, and total lipid contents. Some biological activities such as hemolytic, cytotoxic, and antibacterial lysozyme-like activities were also studied. The A. equina mucus is mainly composed by water (96.2% ± 0.3%), whereas its dry weight is made of 24.2% ± 1.3% proteins and 7.8% ± 0.2% carbohydrates, with the smallest and largest components referable to lipids (0.9%) and inorganic matter (67.1%). The A. equina mucus matrix exhibited hemolytic activity on rabbit erythrocytes, cytotoxic activity against the tumor cell line K562 (human erythromyeloblastoid leukemia) and antibacterial lysozyme-like activity. The findings from this study improve the available information on the mucus composition in invertebrates and have implications for future investigations related to exploitation of A. equina and other sea anemones' mucus as a source of bioactive compounds of high pharmaceutical and biotechnological interest.

[Community structure of zooxanthellate corals (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) in Carrizales coral reef, Pacific coast, Mexico].

PubMed

Reyes-Bonilla, Hector; Escobosa-González, Laura Elena; Cupul-Magaña, Amilcar L; Medina-Rosas, Pedro; Calderón-Aguilera, Luis E

2013-06-01

Coral reefs in the Mexican Pacific and notably those of the continental coastline of Colima state are still poorly studied. Fortunately, recent efforts have been carried out by researchers from different Mexican institutions to fill up these information gaps. The aim of this study was to determine the ecological structure of the rich and undisturbed coral building communities of Carrizales by using the point transect interception method (25m-long). For this, three survey expeditions were conducted between June and October 2005 and September 2006; and for comparison purposes, the reef was subdivided according to its position in the bay, and depth (0 to 5 m, and 6 to 10 m). Thirteen coral species were observed in the area, with Pocillopora verrucosa as the most abundant, contributing up to 32.8% of total cover, followed by Porites panamensis and Pocillopora capitata with 11% and 7%, respectively. Other species, Pocillopora damicornis, Pavona gigantea, Pocillopora eydouxi and Pocillopora inflata accounted for 1.5% to 2% of coral cover whereas the remaining five species had cover of less than 1%. Seven of the observed species represented new records for Colima state coastline: Pocillopora eydouxi, P inflata, P meandrina, Pavona duerdeni, P varians, Psammocora stellata and P contigua. This last species is a relevant record, because it has never been observed before in the Eastern Pacific. Although there was no significant difference (ANOVA, p = 0.478) neither in the abundance between the sides of the bay, nor between the depths considered, and the shallow zone observed the higher coral cover. Live coral cover was up to 61%, one of the highest ever reported for the Mexican Pacific, including the Gulf of California. The observed values of diversity (H' = 0.44 +/- 0.02), uniformity (J' = 0.76 +/- 0.02), and taxonomic distinctness index (delta* = 45.87 +/- 3.16), showed that currently this is the most important coral reef of Colima coastline. Currently, this region does not show any disturbance effects, but the increasing economic development of Manzanillo, as one of the main commercial ports of Mexico, its proximity to the reef, and the burgeoning number of tourists, may have some ecosystem impacts, for which management and conservation plans for Colima coastline are highly recommended.

Enzymatic Activity and Susceptibility to Antifungal Agents of Brazilian Environmental Isolates of Hortaea werneckii.

PubMed

Formoso, Andrea; Heidrich, Daiane; Felix, Ciro Ramón; Tenório, Anne Carolyne; Leite, Belize R; Pagani, Danielle M; Ortiz-Monsalve, Santiago; Ramírez-Castrillón, Mauricio; Landell, Melissa Fontes; Scroferneker, Maria L; Valente, Patricia

2015-12-01

Four strains of Hortaea werneckii were isolated from different substrates in Brazil (a salt marsh macrophyte, a bromeliad and a marine zoanthid) and had their identification confirmed by sequencing of the 26S rDNA D1/D2 domain or ITS region. Most of the strains were able to express amylase, lipase, esterase, pectinase and/or cellulase, enzymes that recognize components of plant cells as substrates, but did not express albuminase, keratinase, phospholipase and DNAse, whose substrates are animal-related. Urease production was positive for all isolates, while caseinase, gelatinase and laccase production were variable among the strains. All the strains grew in media containing up to 30% NaCl. We propose that the primary substrate associated with H. werneckii is plant-related, in special in saline environments, where the fungus may live as a saprophyte and decomposer. Infection of animal-associated substrates would be secondary, with the fungus acting as an opportunistic animal pathogen. All strains were resistant to fluconazole and presented high MIC for amphotericin B, while they were susceptible to all the other antifungal agents tested.

Structuring effects of chemicals from the sea fan Phyllogorgia dilatata on benthic communities.

PubMed

Ribeiro, Felipe V; da Gama, Bernardo A P; Pereira, Renato C

2017-01-01

Despite advances in understanding the ecological functions of secondary metabolites from marine organisms, there has been little focus on the influence of chemically-defended species at the community level. Several compounds have been isolated from the gorgonian octocoral Phyllogorgia dilatata , a conspicuous species that forms dense canopies on rocky reefs of northern Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Manipulative experiments were performed to study: (1) the effects of live colonies of P. dilatata (physical presence and chemistry) on recruitment of sympatric benthic organisms; (2) the allelopathic effects of its chemicals on competitors; and (3) chemotactic responses of the non-indigenous brittle star, Ophiothela mirabilis . Early establishment of benthic species was influenced on substrates around live P. dilatata colonies and some effects could be attributed to the gorgonian's secondary metabolites . In addition, the gorgonian chemicals also exerted an allelopathic effect on the sympatric zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum, and positive chemotaxis upon O. mirabilis . These results indicate multiple ecological roles of a chemically-defended gorgonian on settlement, sympatric competitors, and non-indigenous species.

Regulation of apoptotic pathways by Stylophora pistillata (Anthozoa, Pocilloporidae) to survive thermal stress and bleaching.

PubMed

Kvitt, Hagit; Rosenfeld, Hanna; Zandbank, Keren; Tchernov, Dan

2011-01-01

Elevated seawater temperatures are associated with coral bleaching events and related mortality. Nevertheless, some coral species are able to survive bleaching and recover. The apoptotic responses associated to this ability were studied over 3 years in the coral Stylophora pistillata from the Gulf of Eilat subjected to long term thermal stress. These include caspase activity and the expression profiles of the S. pistillata caspase and Bcl-2 genes (StyCasp and StyBcl-2-like) cloned in this study. In corals exposed to thermal stress (32 or 34°C), caspase activity and the expression levels of the StyBcl-2-like gene increased over time (6-48 h) and declined to basal levels within 72 h of thermal stress. Distinct transcript levels were obtained for the StyCasp gene, with stimulated expression from 6 to 48 h of 34°C thermal stress, coinciding with the onset of bleaching. Increased cell death was detected in situ only between 6 to 48 h of stress and was limited to the gastroderm. The bleached corals survived up to one month at 32°C, and recovered back symbionts when placed at 24°C. These results point to a two-stage response in corals that withstand thermal stress: (i) the onset of apoptosis, accompanied by rapid activation of anti-oxidant/anti-apoptotic mediators that block the progression of apoptosis to other cells and (ii) acclimatization of the coral to the chronic thermal stress alongside the completion of symbiosis breakdown. Accordingly, the coral's ability to rapidly curb apoptosis appears to be the most important trait affecting the coral's thermotolerance and survival.

Response to short term ultraviolet stress in the reef-building coral Pocillopora capitata (Anthozoa: Scleractinia).

PubMed

Liñán-Cabello, Marco A; Flores-Ramírez, Laura A; Cobo-Díaz, José Francisco; Zenteno-Savin, Tania; Olguín-Monroy, Norma O; Olivos-Ortiz, Aramís; Tintos-Gómez, Adrián

2010-03-01

Coral reefs are impacted by a range of environmental variables that affect their growth and survival, the main factors being the high irradiance and temperature fluctuations. Specimens of Pocillopora capitata Verrill 1864 were exposed to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and ultraviolet radiation (UVR) for 32 h under laboratory conditions. We examined lipid peroxidation (MDA), antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, CAT, GPx and GST), chlorophyll a (Chl a), carotenoid pigments (CPs), mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), and expulsion of zooxanthellae. Our results revealed that corals exposed to UVR had relatively low levels of carotenoids and antioxidant enzyme activities compared to those exposed to PAR, as well as lower CPs/Chl a ratios. Although MAAs and CPs are rapidly produced as non-enzymatic antioxidants in response to UVR in corals, these were not sufficient, even in the dark phase of the experiment, to mitigate the damage caused by formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which caused breakdown of the symbiotic relationship between the zooxanthellae and the host animal to an extent 33 times greater than in the PAR treatment. In this study, it could be possible to distinguish that, parallel to the short-term adjustments, such as the amount of pigment in the algae or the sensitivity of the photosynthetic response reported in other species of coral, P. capitata exhibits at the enzymatic level a series of responses oriented to resist the effects derived from the propagation of ROS and, thus, to adapt to and maintain its reproductive capacity in shallow oceanic environments that commonly exhibit high UVR levels. Nevertheless, as a result of the inappropriate location of the artificial intercommunication structure of the Juluapan Lagoon with respect to the arrecifal area of study and therefore of the tides influence, other variables, such as the changes in short-term in turbidity, sediment inputs, nutrients, temperature and osmolarity, can act in combination and cause irreversible damage. The implementation of a management plan for the coralline reefs of the Mexican Pacific coast is required.

A new genus and species of pennatulacean octocoral from equatorial West Africa (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Virgulariidae)

PubMed Central

Williams, Gary C.

2015-01-01

Abstract A new genus and species of sea pen or virgulariid pennatulacean from the Gulf of Guinea in the tropical eastern Atlantic is described, and a key to the genera of the Virgulariidae is included. The new genus and species described here adds to the previously described five other genera of the family. It is distinguished by unique sclerite and polyp leaf characters from the superficially-similar genus Virgularia, which lacks conspicuous sclerites in the polyp leaves and coenenchyme (other than minute oval bodies that are generally <0.01 mm in length). PMID:26798304

Regulation of Apoptotic Pathways by Stylophora pistillata (Anthozoa, Pocilloporidae) to Survive Thermal Stress and Bleaching

PubMed Central

Kvitt, Hagit; Rosenfeld, Hanna; Zandbank, Keren; Tchernov, Dan

2011-01-01

Elevated seawater temperatures are associated with coral bleaching events and related mortality. Nevertheless, some coral species are able to survive bleaching and recover. The apoptotic responses associated to this ability were studied over 3 years in the coral Stylophora pistillata from the Gulf of Eilat subjected to long term thermal stress. These include caspase activity and the expression profiles of the S. pistillata caspase and Bcl-2 genes (StyCasp and StyBcl-2-like) cloned in this study. In corals exposed to thermal stress (32 or 34°C), caspase activity and the expression levels of the StyBcl-2-like gene increased over time (6–48 h) and declined to basal levels within 72 h of thermal stress. Distinct transcript levels were obtained for the StyCasp gene, with stimulated expression from 6 to 48 h of 34°C thermal stress, coinciding with the onset of bleaching. Increased cell death was detected in situ only between 6 to 48 h of stress and was limited to the gastroderm. The bleached corals survived up to one month at 32°C, and recovered back symbionts when placed at 24°C. These results point to a two-stage response in corals that withstand thermal stress: (i) the onset of apoptosis, accompanied by rapid activation of anti-oxidant/anti-apoptotic mediators that block the progression of apoptosis to other cells and (ii) acclimatization of the coral to the chronic thermal stress alongside the completion of symbiosis breakdown. Accordingly, the coral's ability to rapidly curb apoptosis appears to be the most important trait affecting the coral's thermotolerance and survival. PMID:22194880

Sex determination and differentiation in Aurelia sp.1: the absence of temperature dependence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chunsheng; Gu, Zhifeng; Xing, Mengxin; Sun, Yun; Chen, Siqing; Chen, Zhaoting

2018-03-01

Cnidarians, being regarded as `basal' metazoan animals, are considered to have relatively high plasticity in terms of sex reversal. In this study we used an experimental approach to demonstrate sexual differentiation and plasticity in benthic polyps and pelagic medusae of Aurelia sp.1 maintained at different temperatures. Results indicated that in Aurelia sp.1, sex differentiation has been determined at the polyp stage and that all medusae originating from a given polyp are, phenotypically, of the same sex. In addition, the sex of polyps budding from the same clone (either male or female) at different temperatures appears to be the same as that of the parent. The sex of medusae that had originated from a known-sex polyp was observed to remain the same as that of the parent, irrespective of differences in strobilation or rearing temperatures. These results indicate that the mechanism of sex determination of Aurelia sp.1. is not influenced by prevailing temperature regimes. A comparison of variability in terms of sexual plasticity of Aurelia sp.1 with that of Hydrozoa and Anthozoa suggests that species characterized by a free-swimming medusa life stage have a high dispersal potential, which probably results in a lower rate of sex reversal.

Recovery of Red Fluorescent Protein Chromophore Maturation Deficiency through Rational Design

PubMed Central

Moore, Matthew M.; Oteng-Pabi, Samuel K.; Pandelieva, Antonia T.; Mayo, Stephen L.; Chica, Roberto A.

2012-01-01

Red fluorescent proteins (RFPs) derived from organisms in the class Anthozoa have found widespread application as imaging tools in biological research. For most imaging experiments, RFPs that mature quickly to the red chromophore and produce little or no green chromophore are most useful. In this study, we used rational design to convert a yellow fluorescent mPlum mutant to a red-emitting RFP without reverting any of the mutations causing the maturation deficiency and without altering the red chromophore’s covalent structure. We also created an optimized mPlum mutant (mPlum-E16P) that matures almost exclusively to the red chromophore. Analysis of the structure/function relationships in these proteins revealed two structural characteristics that are important for efficient red chromophore maturation in DsRed-derived RFPs. The first is the presence of a lysine residue at position 70 that is able to interact directly with the chromophore. The second is an absence of non-bonding interactions limiting the conformational flexibility at the peptide backbone that is oxidized during red chromophore formation. Satisfying or improving these structural features in other maturation-deficient RFPs may result in RFPs with faster and more complete maturation to the red chromophore. PMID:23285050

Short toxin-like proteins abound in Cnidaria genomes.

PubMed

Tirosh, Yitshak; Linial, Itai; Askenazi, Manor; Linial, Michal

2012-11-16

Cnidaria is a rich phylum that includes thousands of marine species. In this study, we focused on Anthozoa and Hydrozoa that are represented by the Nematostella vectensis (Sea anemone) and Hydra magnipapillata genomes. We present a method for ranking the toxin-like candidates from complete proteomes of Cnidaria. Toxin-like functions were revealed using ClanTox, a statistical machine-learning predictor trained on ion channel inhibitors from venomous animals. Fundamental features that were emphasized in training ClanTox include cysteines and their spacing along the sequences. Among the 83,000 proteins derived from Cnidaria representatives, we found 170 candidates that fulfill the properties of toxin-like-proteins, the vast majority of which were previously unrecognized as toxins. An additional 394 short proteins exhibit characteristics of toxin-like proteins at a moderate degree of confidence. Remarkably, only 11% of the predicted toxin-like proteins were previously classified as toxins. Based on our prediction methodology and manual annotation, we inferred functions for over 400 of these proteins. Such functions include protease inhibitors, membrane pore formation, ion channel blockers and metal binding proteins. Many of the proteins belong to small families of paralogs. We conclude that the evolutionary expansion of toxin-like proteins in Cnidaria contributes to their fitness in the complex environment of the aquatic ecosystem.

Insight into the Molecular and Functional Diversity of Cnidarian Neuropeptides

PubMed Central

Takahashi, Toshio; Takeda, Noriyo

2015-01-01

Cnidarians are the most primitive animals to possess a nervous system. This phylum is composed of the classes Scyphozoa (jellyfish), Cubozoa (box jellyfish), and Hydrozoa (e.g., Hydra, Hydractinia), which make up the subphylum Medusozoa, as well as the class Anthozoa (sea anemones and corals). Neuropeptides have an early evolutionary origin and are already abundant in cnidarians. For example, from the cnidarian Hydra, a key model system for studying the peptides involved in developmental and physiological processes, we identified a wide variety of novel neuropeptides from Hydra magnipapillata (the Hydra Peptide Project). Most of these peptides act directly on muscle cells and induce contraction and relaxation. Some peptides are involved in cell differentiation and morphogenesis. In this review, we describe FMRFamide-like peptides (FLPs), GLWamide-family peptides, and the neuropeptide Hym-355; FPQSFLPRGamide. Several hundred FLPs have been isolated from invertebrate animals such as cnidarians. GLWamide-family peptides function as signaling molecules in muscle contraction, metamorphosis, and settlement in cnidarians. Hym-355; FPQSFLPRGamide enhances neuronal differentiation in Hydra. Recently, GLWamide-family peptides and Hym-355; FPQSFLPRGamide were shown to trigger oocyte maturation and subsequent spawning in the hydrozoan jellyfish Cytaeis uchidae. These findings suggest the importance of these neuropeptides in both developmental and physiological processes. PMID:25625515

Insight into the molecular and functional diversity of cnidarian neuropeptides.

PubMed

Takahashi, Toshio; Takeda, Noriyo

2015-01-23

Cnidarians are the most primitive animals to possess a nervous system. This phylum is composed of the classes Scyphozoa (jellyfish), Cubozoa (box jellyfish), and Hydrozoa (e.g., Hydra, Hydractinia), which make up the subphylum Medusozoa, as well as the class Anthozoa (sea anemones and corals). Neuropeptides have an early evolutionary origin and are already abundant in cnidarians. For example, from the cnidarian Hydra, a key model system for studying the peptides involved in developmental and physiological processes, we identified a wide variety of novel neuropeptides from Hydra magnipapillata (the Hydra Peptide Project). Most of these peptides act directly on muscle cells and induce contraction and relaxation. Some peptides are involved in cell differentiation and morphogenesis. In this review, we describe FMRFamide-like peptides (FLPs), GLWamide-family peptides, and the neuropeptide Hym-355; FPQSFLPRGamide. Several hundred FLPs have been isolated from invertebrate animals such as cnidarians. GLWamide-family peptides function as signaling molecules in muscle contraction, metamorphosis, and settlement in cnidarians. Hym-355; FPQSFLPRGamide enhances neuronal differentiation in Hydra. Recently, GLWamide-family peptides and Hym-355; FPQSFLPRGamide were shown to trigger oocyte maturation and subsequent spawning in the hydrozoan jellyfish Cytaeis uchidae. These findings suggest the importance of these neuropeptides in both developmental and physiological processes.

Elevated temperatures and bleaching on a high latitude coral reef: the 1988 Bermuda event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, Clayton B.; Logan, Alan; Ward, Jack; Luckhurst, Brian; Berg, Carl J.

1990-03-01

Sea temperatures were normal in Bermuda during 1987, when Bermuda escaped the episodes of coral bleaching which were prevalent throughout the Caribbean region. Survey transecs in 1988 on 4 6 m reefs located on the rim margin and on a lagoonal patch reef revealed bleaching only of zoanthids between May and July. Transect and tow surveys in August and September revealed bleaching of several coral species; Millepora alcicornis on rim reefs was the most extensively affected. The frequency of bleaching in this species, Montastrea annularis and perhaps Diploria labyrinthiformis was significantly higher on outer reefs than on inshore reefs. This bleaching period coincided with the longest period of elevated sea temperatures in Bermuda in 38 years (28.9 30.9°C inshore, >28° offshore). By December, when temperatures had returned to normal, bleaching of seleractinians continued, but bleaching of M. alcicornis on the outer reefs was greatly reduced. Our observations suggest that corals which normally experience wide temperature ranges are less sensitive to thermal stress, and that high-latitude reef corals are sensitive to elevated temperatures which are within the normal thermal range of corals at lower latitudes.

Mitochondrial Genome Rearrangements in the Scleractinia/Corallimorpharia Complex: Implications for Coral Phylogeny

PubMed Central

Lin, Mei-Fang; Kitahara, Marcelo Visentini; Luo, Haiwei; Tracey, Dianne; Geller, Jonathan; Fukami, Hironobu; Miller, David John; Chen, Chaolun Allen

2014-01-01

Corallimorpharia is a small Order of skeleton-less animals that is closely related to the reef-building corals (Scleractinia) and of fundamental interest in the context of understanding the potential impacts of climate change in the future on coral reefs. The relationship between the nominal Orders Corallimorpharia and Scleractinia is controversial—the former is either the closest outgroup to the Scleractinia or alternatively is derived from corals via skeleton loss. This latter scenario, the “naked coral” hypothesis, is strongly supported by analyses based on mitochondrial (mt) protein sequences, whereas the former is equally strongly supported by analyses of mt nucleotide sequences. The “naked coral” hypothesis seeks to link skeleton loss in the putative ancestor of corallimorpharians with a period of elevated oceanic CO2 during the Cretaceous, leading to the idea that these skeleton-less animals may be harbingers for the fate of coral reefs under global climate change. In an attempt to better understand their evolutionary relationships, we examined mt genome organization in a representative range (12 species, representing 3 of the 4 extant families) of corallimorpharians and compared these patterns with other Hexacorallia. The most surprising finding was that mt genome organization in Corallimorphus profundus, a deep-water species that is the most scleractinian-like of all corallimorpharians on the basis of morphology, was much more similar to the common scleractinian pattern than to those of other corallimorpharians. This finding is consistent with the idea that C. profundus represents a key position in the coral <-> corallimorpharian transition. PMID:24769753

Two new species of gorgonian octocorals from the Tropical Eastern Pacific Biogeographic Region (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Gorgoniidae)

PubMed Central

Breedy, Odalisca; Williams, Gary C; Guzman, Hector M

2013-01-01

Abstract The gorgoniid Eugorgia is exclusively an eastern Pacific genus. It has a wide geographic and bathymetric range of distribution, found from California to Perú and extends down to 65 m deep. Two new species are herein described. The morphological characters were analyzed and illustrated by light and scanning electron microscopy. Eugorgia beebei sp. n. can be distinguished by its white, ascending, sparse colony growth. Eugorgia mutabilis sp. n. can be distinguished by its white colony that changes color after collection, and the conspicuous sharp-crested disc sclerites. From a morphological point of view the new species are related to the daniana-group, the rubens-group and the siedenburgae-group of Eugorgia; their affiliations, and the proposal of a new group are discussed. These new species increases the number of species in the genus to 15, and contribute to the knowledge of the eastern Pacific octocoral biodiversity. PMID:24294084

Early Bashkirian Rugosa (Anthozoa) from the Donets Basin (Ukraine). Part 5. The Family Bothrophyllidae Fomichev, 1953

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fedorowski, Jerzy

2017-06-01

Four genera (one new, one questionable), seven named species (five new) and five taxa left in open nomenclature are described from uppermost Serpukhovian (Limestone D53) to middle Bashkirian (Limestone G11) strata. A new genus: Nina and the new species: Bothrophyllum kalmyussi, B. gorbachevensis, Nina donetsiana, N. dibimitaria and N. magna are introduced. The genus Cystilophophyllum Fomichev, 1953 is redefined and transferred to the Family Bothrophyllidae. Three general topics discussed in the Considerations are: 1. The taxonomic value of the microstructure of the septa and the necessity for a distinction between that character and diagenetic alterations; 2. Depositional conditions, under which the rugose coral skeletons were deposited; 3. The similarity of skeletal constructions vs. relationships in some taxa of the Subfamily Dibunophyllinae Wang, 1950 and the Family Bothrophyllidae Fomichev, 1953. The lack of final conclusions in the matter of the relationships is due to the incompleteness and restricted number of specimens studied herein and the incomplete investigations of a great majority of the earlier described bothrophyllid taxa.

Early Bashkirian Rugosa (Anthozoa) from the Donets Basin (Ukraine). Part 6. The Family Aulophyllidae Dybowski, 1873

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fedorowski, Jerzy

2017-12-01

Seven genera (one new), belonging to four subfamilies, seven named species (six new), four species left in open nomenclature and two specimens included in this paper as unnamed Aulophyllidae are described from strata ranging from the lowermost Bashkirian Limestone D510 to the lower Bashkirian Limestone F1. A new genus: Voragoaxum and six new species: Dibunophyllum medium, Dibunophylloides columnatus, D. paulus, D. similis, Voragoaxum cavum and Rozkowskia lenta are introduced. Comparison of the ontogeny of the earliest Bashkirian species of Nina Fedorowski, 2017a and Dibunophylloides Fomichev, 1953 suggest the derivation by descent of the Family Bothrophyllidae from the Subfamily Dibunophyllinae. This means that true bothrophylla are absent in the Mississippian strata of the Western European Province and, perhaps, in the contemporaneous strata of other areas as well.

A revision of the genus Muricea Lamouroux, 1821 (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) in the eastern Pacific. Part II

PubMed Central

Breedy, Odalisca; Guzman, Hector M.

2016-01-01

Abstract The species of the genus Muricea were mainly described from 1846 to 1870. After that very few contributions were published. Although the highest richness of Muricea species is in the eastern Pacific shallow waters, a comprehensive systematic study of the genus does not exist. Recently we started a taxonomic review of the genus in order to validate the status of four species previously included in the genus Eumuricea. Herein we present the second part of the Muricea revision dealing with the species-group characterised by shelf-like calyces instead of tubular-like calyces (the Muricea squarrosa-group). Original type material was morphologically analysed and illustrated using optical and scanning electron microscopy. Comparative character tables are provided for the genus. The taxonomic status of the species was analysed and established by designating lectotypes, alternatively by recognising a holotype by monotypy. We conclude that the genus Muricea comprises 20 valid species, including the previous four in the Muricea squarrosa-group. We propose 10 lectotypes, a new combination and three more species groups for the genus based on morphology: the Muricea fruticosa-group, Muricea plantaginea-group and Muricea austera-group. PMID:27199581

Biology of a deep-water sea anemone (Anthozoa: Actiniidae) from eastern Canada: Spawning, development, and growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mercier, Annie; Baillon, Sandrine; Daly, Marymegan; Macrander, Jason; Hamel, Jean-François

2017-03-01

Knowledge of the general biology and reproductive ecology of deep-water species can help predict their resilience to environmental and anthropogenic disturbances. The present study centers on live specimens of a deep-water sea anemone which were collected at bathyal depths between 1100 and 1400 m and kept in a mesocosm for over 6 years. Morphology and DNA sequencing confirmed that the species belongs to the genus Urticina. Male and female (9-10 cm pedal disk diameter, 90 tentacles) spawned 4 years post collection, in early spring (March). Both sexes released gametes through the mouth. The negatively buoyant oocytes (550-600 μm in diameter) quickly settled on the rocks and soft sediments surrounding the female. Lecithotrophic embryonic and larval development occurred on the substratum. Fully developed planula larvae were detected after 17-21 days. Planulae started to crawl and swim around but remained demersal. Metamorphosis and settlement occurred after 30-35 days, exclusively on hard substrata and preferentially on undersurfaces. Offspring grew slowly, developing 8 tentacles after 5 months and 24 tentacles after 12 months (3-4 mm pedal disk diameter). After 2.6 years of growth, the captive-born sea anemones reached 12-16 mm in pedal disk diameter and possessed 48-54 tentacles.

A new Stenothoe species (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Stenothoidae) living on Boloceropsis platei (Anthozoa: Actiniaria) from Chilean Patagonia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krapp-Schickel, T.; Häussermann, V.; Vader, W.

2015-06-01

This paper describes a new species of Stenothoe (Amphipoda, Stenothoidae), S. boloceropsis sp. nov., collected among the tentacles of the sea anemone Boloceropsis platei Mc Murrich, 1904, found on sublittoral sand of Quellon, Chiloe Island, Chile.

Revisiting the phylogeny of Zoanthidea (Cnidaria: Anthozoa): Staggered alignment of hypervariable sequences improves species tree inference.

PubMed

Swain, Timothy D

2018-01-01

The recent rapid proliferation of novel taxon identification in the Zoanthidea has been accompanied by a parallel propagation of gene trees as a tool of species discovery, but not a corresponding increase in our understanding of phylogeny. This disparity is caused by the trade-off between the capabilities of automated DNA sequence alignment and data content of genes applied to phylogenetic inference in this group. Conserved genes or segments are easily aligned across the order, but produce poorly resolved trees; hypervariable genes or segments contain the evolutionary signal necessary for resolution and robust support, but sequence alignment is daunting. Staggered alignments are a form of phylogeny-informed sequence alignment composed of a mosaic of local and universal regions that allow phylogenetic inference to be applied to all nucleotides from both hypervariable and conserved gene segments. Comparisons between species tree phylogenies inferred from all data (staggered alignment) and hypervariable-excluded data (standard alignment) demonstrate improved confidence and greater topological agreement with other sources of data for the complete-data tree. This novel phylogeny is the most comprehensive to date (in terms of taxa and data) and can serve as an expandable tool for evolutionary hypothesis testing in the Zoanthidea. Spanish language abstract available in Text S1. Translation by L. O. Swain, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, 60604, USA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cyphastreakausti sp. n. (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Scleractinia), a new species of reef coral from the Red Sea.

PubMed

Bouwmeester, Jessica; Benzoni, Francesca; Baird, Andrew H; Berumen, Michael L

2015-01-01

A new scleractinian coral species, Cyphastreakausti sp. n., is described from 13 specimens from the Red Sea. It is characterised by the presence of eight primary septa, unlike the other species of the genus, which have six, ten or 12 primary septa. The new species has morphological affinities with Cyphastreamicrophthalma, from which it can be distinguished by the lower number of septa (on average eight instead of ten), and smaller calices and corallites. This species was observed in the northern and central Red Sea and appears to be absent from the southern Red Sea.

A Comprehensive Phylogenetic Analysis of the Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) Based on Mitochondrial CO1 Sequence Data

PubMed Central

Kitahara, Marcelo V.; Cairns, Stephen D.; Stolarski, Jarosław; Blair, David; Miller, David J.

2010-01-01

Background Classical morphological taxonomy places the approximately 1400 recognized species of Scleractinia (hard corals) into 27 families, but many aspects of coral evolution remain unclear despite the application of molecular phylogenetic methods. In part, this may be a consequence of such studies focusing on the reef-building (shallow water and zooxanthellate) Scleractinia, and largely ignoring the large number of deep-sea species. To better understand broad patterns of coral evolution, we generated molecular data for a broad and representative range of deep sea scleractinians collected off New Caledonia and Australia during the last decade, and conducted the most comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis to date of the order Scleractinia. Methodology Partial (595 bp) sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) gene were determined for 65 deep-sea (azooxanthellate) scleractinians and 11 shallow-water species. These new data were aligned with 158 published sequences, generating a 234 taxon dataset representing 25 of the 27 currently recognized scleractinian families. Principal Findings/Conclusions There was a striking discrepancy between the taxonomic validity of coral families consisting predominantly of deep-sea or shallow-water species. Most families composed predominantly of deep-sea azooxanthellate species were monophyletic in both maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses but, by contrast (and consistent with previous studies), most families composed predominantly of shallow-water zooxanthellate taxa were polyphyletic, although Acroporidae, Poritidae, Pocilloporidae, and Fungiidae were exceptions to this general pattern. One factor contributing to this inconsistency may be the greater environmental stability of deep-sea environments, effectively removing taxonomic “noise” contributed by phenotypic plasticity. Our phylogenetic analyses imply that the most basal extant scleractinians are azooxanthellate solitary corals from deep-water, their divergence predating that of the robust and complex corals. Deep-sea corals are likely to be critical to understanding anthozoan evolution and the origins of the Scleractinia. PMID:20628613

Biosurfactant production by hydrocarbon-degrading Brevibacterium and Vibrio isolates from the sea pen Pteroeides spinosum (Ellis, 1764).

PubMed

Graziano, Marco; Rizzo, Carmen; Michaud, Luigi; Porporato, Erika Maria Diletta; De Domenico, Emilio; Spanò, Nunziacarla; Lo Giudice, Angelina

2016-09-01

Among filter-feeders, pennatulids are the most complex and polymorphic members of the cnidarian class Anthozoa. They display a wide distribution throughout all the oceans, constituting a significant component of the sessile megafauna from intertidal to abyssal depths. In this study, a total of 118 bacterial isolates from enrichment cultures, carried out with homogenates of the sea pen Pteroeides spinosum (Ellis, 1764), were screened for hydrocarbon utilization by using the 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol assay. Among them, 83 hydrocarbon-oxidizing isolates were analyzed for biosurfactant production by standard screening tests (i.e., emulsifying activity, E24 detection, surface tension measurement, microplate assay). The 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed the affiliation of the most promising isolates to the genera Brevibacterium and Vibrio. Biosurfactant production resulted strongly affected by salinity and temperature conditions, and occurred in the presence of diesel oil and/or crude oil, whereas no production was observed when isolates were grown on tetradecane. The strains resulted able to create stable emulsions, thus suggesting the production of biosurfactants. Further analyses revealed a glycolipidic nature of the biosurfactant extracted from Vibrio sp. PBN295, a genus that has been only recently reported as biosurfactant producer. Results suggest that pennatulids could represent a novel source for the isolation of hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria with potential in biosurfactant production. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Biochemical and Electrophysiological Characterization of Two Sea Anemone Type 1 Potassium Toxins from a Geographically Distant Population of Bunodosoma caissarum

PubMed Central

Orts, Diego J. B.; Peigneur, Steve; Madio, Bruno; Cassoli, Juliana S.; Montandon, Gabriela G.; Pimenta, Adriano M. C.; Bicudo, José E. P. W.; Freitas, José C.; Zaharenko, André J.; Tytgat, Jan

2013-01-01

Sea anemone (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) venom is an important source of bioactive compounds used as tools to study the pharmacology and structure-function of voltage-gated K+ channels (KV). These neurotoxins can be divided into four different types, according to their structure and mode of action. In this work, for the first time, two toxins were purified from the venom of Bunodosoma caissarum population from Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, Brazil. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis reveals that BcsTx1 and BcsTx2 are the newest members of the sea anemone type 1 potassium channel toxins. Their functional characterization was performed by means of a wide electrophysiological screening on 12 different subtypes of KV channels (KV1.1–KV1.6; KV2.1; KV3.1; KV4.2; KV4.3; hERG and Shaker IR). BcsTx1 shows a high affinity for rKv1.2 over rKv1.6, hKv1.3, Shaker IR and rKv1.1, while Bcstx2 potently blocked rKv1.6 over hKv1.3, rKv1.1, Shaker IR and rKv1.2. Furthermore, we also report for the first time a venom composition and biological activity comparison between two geographically distant populations of sea anemones. PMID:23466933

Short Toxin-like Proteins Abound in Cnidaria Genomes

PubMed Central

Tirosh, Yitshak; Linial, Itai; Askenazi, Manor; Linial, Michal

2012-01-01

Cnidaria is a rich phylum that includes thousands of marine species. In this study, we focused on Anthozoa and Hydrozoa that are represented by the Nematostella vectensis (Sea anemone) and Hydra magnipapillata genomes. We present a method for ranking the toxin-like candidates from complete proteomes of Cnidaria. Toxin-like functions were revealed using ClanTox, a statistical machine-learning predictor trained on ion channel inhibitors from venomous animals. Fundamental features that were emphasized in training ClanTox include cysteines and their spacing along the sequences. Among the 83,000 proteins derived from Cnidaria representatives, we found 170 candidates that fulfill the properties of toxin-like-proteins, the vast majority of which were previously unrecognized as toxins. An additional 394 short proteins exhibit characteristics of toxin-like proteins at a moderate degree of confidence. Remarkably, only 11% of the predicted toxin-like proteins were previously classified as toxins. Based on our prediction methodology and manual annotation, we inferred functions for over 400 of these proteins. Such functions include protease inhibitors, membrane pore formation, ion channel blockers and metal binding proteins. Many of the proteins belong to small families of paralogs. We conclude that the evolutionary expansion of toxin-like proteins in Cnidaria contributes to their fitness in the complex environment of the aquatic ecosystem. PMID:23202321

Functional Characterization of Cnidarian HCN Channels Points to an Early Evolution of Ih.

PubMed

Baker, Emma C; Layden, Michael J; van Rossum, Damian B; Kamel, Bishoy; Medina, Monica; Simpson, Eboni; Jegla, Timothy

2015-01-01

HCN channels play a unique role in bilaterian physiology as the only hyperpolarization-gated cation channels. Their voltage-gating is regulated by cyclic nucleotides and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2). Activation of HCN channels provides the depolarizing current in response to hyperpolarization that is critical for intrinsic rhythmicity in neurons and the sinoatrial node. Additionally, HCN channels regulate dendritic excitability in a wide variety of neurons. Little is known about the early functional evolution of HCN channels, but the presence of HCN sequences in basal metazoan phyla and choanoflagellates, a protozoan sister group to the metazoans, indicate that the gene family predates metazoan emergence. We functionally characterized two HCN channel orthologs from Nematostella vectensis (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) to determine which properties of HCN channels were established prior to the emergence of bilaterians. We find Nematostella HCN channels share all the major functional features of bilaterian HCNs, including reversed voltage-dependence, activation by cAMP and PIP2, and block by extracellular Cs+. Thus bilaterian-like HCN channels were already present in the common parahoxozoan ancestor of bilaterians and cnidarians, at a time when the functional diversity of voltage-gated K+ channels was rapidly expanding. NvHCN1 and NvHCN2 are expressed broadly in planulae and in both the endoderm and ectoderm of juvenile polyps.

A new species of antipatharian coral (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Antipatharia: Schizopathidae) from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Opresko, Dennis M; Breedy, Odalisca

A new species of black coral, Aphanipathes colombiana (Cnidaria:Antipatharia) from the Caribbean coast of Colombia is described. The species forms small flabellate colonies with anisomorphic polypar spines. It is morphologically similar to the western Atlantic species A. thyoides (Pourtales) but its hypostomal polypar spines are not reduced in size. The new species also resembles the Indo-Pacific species A. reticulata van Pesch but it has smooth-surfaced polypar spines, whereas in A. reticulata these spines have small tubercles on their surface

Deep-Water Octocorals (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) from the Galápagos and Cocos Islands. Part 1: Suborder Calcaxonia

PubMed Central

Cairns, Stephen D.

2018-01-01

Abstract Thirteen species of deep-water calcaxonian octocorals belonging to the families Primnoidae, Chrysogorgiidae, and Isididae collected from off the Galápagos and Cocos Islands are described and figured. Seven of these species are described as new; nine of the 13 are not known outside the Galápagos region. Of the four species occurring elsewhere, two also occur in the eastern Pacific, one off Hawaii, and one from off Antarctica. A key to the 22 Indo-Pacific species of Callogorgia is provided to help distinguish those species. PMID:29416390

Environmental versus genetic influences on growth rates of the corals Pocillopora eydouxi and Porites lobata (Anthozoa: Scleractinia)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, L.W.; Wirshing, H.H.; Baker, A.C.; Birkeland, C.

2008-01-01

Reciprocal transplant experiments of the corals Pocillopora eydouxi Milne Edwards & Haime and Porites lobata Dana were carried out for an 18-month period from September 2004 to March 2006 between two back reef pools on Ofu Island, American Samoa, to test environmental versus genetic effects on skeletal growth rates. Skeletal growth of P. eydouxi showed environmental but not genetic effects, resulting in doubling of growth in Pool 300 compared with Pool 400. There were no environmental or genetic effects on skeletal growth of P. lobata. Pool 300 had more frequent and longer durations of elevated seawater temperatures than Pool 400, characteristics likely to decrease rather than increase skeletal growth. Pool 300 also had higher nutrient levels and flow velocities than Pool 400, characteristics that may increase skeletal growth. However, higher nutrient levels would be expected to increase skeletal growth in both species, but there was no difference between the pools in P. lobata growth. P. eydouxi is much more common in high-energy environments than P. lobata; thus the higher flow velocities in Pool 300 than in Pool 400 may have positively affected skeletal growth of P. eydouxi while not having a detectable effect on P. lobata. The greater skeletal growth of P. eydouxi in Pool 300 occurred despite the presence of clade D zooxanthellae in several source colonies in Pool 300, a genotype known to result in greater heat resistance but slower skeletal growth. Increased skeletal growth rates in higher water motion may provide P. eydouxi a competitive advantage in shallow, high-energy enviromnents where competition for space is intense. ?? 2008 by University of Hawai'i Press. All rights reserved.

Revision of the genus Adelogorgia Bayer, 1958 (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Octocorallia) with the description of three new species.

PubMed

Breedy, Odalisca; Guzman, Hector M

2018-01-05

The genus Adelogorgia is distinguished from other holaxonians in having conspicuously ornamented double-disc sclerites and leaf clubs in the coenenchyme, and non-mineralised axis cores. The two eastern Pacific species currently recognised as Adelogorgia are diagnosed and illustrated. Three new species for the genus are described from new localities and depth ranges. Analysis of external and internal characters, especially sclerite colours and sizes, and colony colour, shape and branching, allows separating the species. An identification key to the five species is provided, as well as a character table for comparisons. This study was based on newly collected specimens from 50 to 200 m deep, and re-examination of all historical material. We conclude that the genus comprises five valid species with a wider distribution than previously reported. This research is a contribution to the octocoral systematics and biodiversity from mesophotic and deep waters.

Reproductive biology of the deep-water coral Acanella arbuscula (Phylum Cnidaria: Class Anthozoa: Order Alcyonacea), northwest Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beazley, Lindsay I.; Kenchington, Ellen L.

2012-10-01

Knowledge of the reproductive life-history of deep-water corals is important for assessing their vulnerability to anthropogenic impacts. Yet, the reproductive biology of many deep-water corals, especially members of the subclass Octocorallia, has not been examined. We used histological techniques to describe the reproductive biology of the deep-water gorgonian coral Acanella arbuscula from the northwest Atlantic. All colonies examined were gonochoric, and no embryos or planula larvae were observed in the polyps. Mean polyp-level fecundity (females: 21.0±17.5 oocytes polyp-1, and males: 13.9±13.5 sperm sacs polyp-1) is high compared to other deep-water gorgonians, and polyps closer to the branch tips had the highest fecundities in both females and males. The presence of large oocytes (maximum diameter 717.8 μm) suggests that A. arbuscula produces lecithotrophic larvae. Despite the potentially high fecundity and small size at first reproduction, the paucity of information on dispersal and recruitment, combined with its longevity, vulnerability to bottom fishing gear, and ecological role as a structure-forming species, still warrants the classification of A. arbuscula as a vulnerable marine ecosystem indicator.

Elucidating the evolutionary relationships of the Aiptasiidae, a widespread cnidarian-dinoflagellate model system (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria: Metridioidea).

PubMed

Grajales, Alejandro; Rodríguez, Estefanía

2016-01-01

Sea anemones of the family Aiptasiidae sensu Grajales and Rodríguez (2014) are conspicuous members of shallow-water environments, including several species widely used as model systems for the study of cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis and coral bleaching. Although previously published phylogenetic studies of sea anemones recovered Aiptasiidae as polyphyletic, they only included a sparse sample in terms of its taxonomic diversity and membership of the family had not been yet revised. This study explores the phylogenetic relationships of this family using five molecular markers and including newly collected material from the geographical distribution of most of the currently described genera and species. We find a monophyletic family Aiptasiidae. All the currently proposed genera were recovered as monophyletic units, a finding also supported by diagnostic morphological characters. Our results confirm Bellactis and Laviactis as members of Aiptasiidae, also in agreement with previous morphological studies. The monophyly of the group is congruent with the morphological homogeneity of the members of this family. The obtained results also allow discussing the evolution of morphological characters within the family. Furthermore, we find evidence for and describe a new cryptic species, Exaiptasia brasiliensis sp. nov., based on molecular data, geographical distribution, and the identity of its endosymbiotic dinoflagellate. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cyphastrea kausti sp. n. (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Scleractinia), a new species of reef coral from the Red Sea

PubMed Central

Bouwmeester, Jessica; Benzoni, Francesca; Baird, Andrew H.; Berumen, Michael L.

2015-01-01

Abstract A new scleractinian coral species, Cyphastrea kausti sp. n., is described from 13 specimens from the Red Sea. It is characterised by the presence of eight primary septa, unlike the other species of the genus, which have six, ten or 12 primary septa. The new species has morphological affinities with Cyphastrea microphthalma, from which it can be distinguished by the lower number of septa (on average eight instead of ten), and smaller calices and corallites. This species was observed in the northern and central Red Sea and appears to be absent from the southern Red Sea. PMID:25931952

Yellow band disease compromises the reproductive output of the Caribbean reef-building coral Montastraea faveolata (Anthozoa, Scleractinia).

PubMed

Weil, Ernesto; Cróquer, Aldo; Urreiztieta, Isabel

2009-11-16

Sexual reproduction is critical to coral population dynamics and the long-term regeneration of coral reefs. Bleaching, disease, and/or anthropogenic-induced tissue/colony loss reduce reproductive output. This is the first attempt to explore the effect of a biotic disease on the reproduction of scleractinian corals. The study aimed to assess the effect of yellow band disease (YBD) on the reproduction of the important Caribbean reef-builder Montastraea faveolata. Tissue samples were collected from diseased, transition, and healthy-looking areas in each of 5 infected colonies and from 5 healthy controls in southwest Puerto Rico. The effect of disease-induced mortality was assessed by collecting samples from the edge and center of surviving small and large, healthy-looking tissue patches from large, previously infected tagged colonies. Fecundity was significantly lower in disease lesions compared to transition and healthy-looking tissues and the controls (99% fewer eggs). Fecundity in transition areas was significantly lower (50%) than in healthy-looking tissues in diseased colonies, which had 23% lower fecundity than control tissues. Although this fecundity drop was not statistically significant, it could indicate a systemic effect of YBD across the colony. Large and small patches had 64 and 84% fewer eggs than controls, respectively, and edge polyps had 97% fewer eggs than those in central control areas. Field observations of the spawning behavior of each tissue area corroborated the histological results. Our results indicate that YBD significantly compromises the reproductive output of M. faveolata, potentially reducing the fitness and consequently, the recovery of this important reef-building species on Caribbean coral reefs.

Palytoxin: exploiting a novel skin tumor promoter to explore signal transduction and carcinogenesis.

PubMed

Wattenberg, Elizabeth V

2007-01-01

Palytoxin is a novel skin tumor promoter, which has been used to help probe the role of different types of signaling mechanisms in carcinogenesis. The multistage mouse skin model indicates that tumor promotion is an early, prolonged, and reversible phase of carcinogenesis. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying tumor promotion is therefore important for developing strategies to prevent and treat cancer. Naturally occurring tumor promoters that bind to specific cellular receptors have proven to be useful tools for investigating important biochemical events in multistage carcinogenesis. For example, the identification of protein kinase C as the receptor for the prototypical skin tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) (also called phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, PMA) provided key evidence that tumor promotion involves the aberrant modulation of signaling cascades that govern cell fate and function. The subsequent discovery that palytoxin, a marine toxin isolated from zoanthids (genus Palythoa), is a potent skin tumor promoter yet does not activate protein kinase C indicated that investigating palytoxin action could help reveal new aspects of tumor promotion. Interestingly, the putative receptor for palytoxin is the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase. This review focuses on palytoxin-stimulated signaling and how palytoxin has been used to investigate alternate biochemical mechanisms by which important targets in carcinogenesis can be modulated.

The effect of palytoxin on neuromuscular junctions in the anococcygeus muscle of the rat.

PubMed

Amir, I; Harris, J B; Zar, M A

1997-06-01

Palytoxin, a highly toxic natural product isolated from zoanthids of the genus Palythoa, is accumulated by a wide range of fishes and marine invertebrates used as food in the Indo-Pacific. It is responsible for many incidents of human morbidity and mortality. The toxin is a potent smooth muscle spasmogen. The cause of the contraction of smooth muscle is unclear, but recent work strongly suggests that it is primarily initiated by the release of neurotransmitters from the motor innervation of the smooth muscle. We show here that palytoxin caused the swelling of the muscle cells and some internal organelles of the anococcygeus muscle of the rat, but no substantial structural damage to the tissue. Axons and Schwann cells were also swollen but the most dramatic feature was the depletion of synaptic vesicles from putative release sites in the axons. Some axons were physically damaged following exposure to the toxin, but this was relatively uncommon (< 10% of all axons studied). In the majority of axons there was no damage to nerve terminal membranes, but there was damage to mitochondria. The depletion of vesicles involved all types-clear, dense-cored, large and small. Our observations and pharmacological data gathered elsewhere, provide a neuropathological basis for the spasmogenic activity of palytoxin.

Severity of the 1998 and 2005 bleaching events in Venezuela, southern Caribbean.

PubMed

Rodríguez, Sebastián; Cróquer, Aldo; Bone, David; Bastidas, Carolina

2010-10-01

This study describes the severity of the 2005 bleaching event at 15 reef sites across Venezuela and compares the 1998 and 2005 bleaching events at one of them. During August and September 2005, bleached corals were first observed on oceanic reefs rather than coastal reefs, affecting 1 to 4% of coral colonies in the community (3 reef sites, n = 736 colonies). At that time, however, no bleached corals were recorded along the eastern coast of Venezuela, an area of seasonal upwelling (3 reefs, n = 181 colonies). On coastal reefs, bleaching started in October but highest levels were reached in November 2005 and January 2006, when 16% of corals were affected among a wide range of taxa (e.g. scleractinians, octocorals, Millepora and zoanthids). In the Acropora habitats of Los Roques (an oceanic reef),no bleached was recorded in 2005 (four sites,n = 643 colonies). At Cayo Sombrero, a coastal reef site, bleaching was less severe in 1998 than in 2005 (9% of the coral colonies involving 2 species vs. 26% involving 23 species, respectively). Our results indicate that bleaching was more severe in 2005 than in 1998 on Venezuelan reefs; however, no mass mortality was observed in either of these two events.

[Family with fever after cleaning a sea aquarium].

PubMed

Snoeks, Lobke; Veenstra, Jan

2012-01-01

Improved aquarium techniques are enabling sea aquariums to imitate reality even better. This means that they sometimes contain known and unknown marine toxins. Aquarium keepers and their families may then develop potentially severe poisoning. A 37-year-old man presented at the Emergency Department with fever, hypotension and symptoms of a metallic taste in the mouth, nausea, headache, shivering and severe muscle cramps. Symptoms appeared after he had tried to remove a colony of Zoanthids (soft corals) from his aquarium by pouring boiling water over them. His wife (35-year-old) and two children (10-year-old twins) had also inhaled the offensive-smelling steam coming from the aquarium and had similar symptoms. On physical examination, all family members had low blood pressure and fever > 38.5 degrees Celsius. Blood analysis showed leucocytosis and an elevated CRP. We diagnosed palytoxin poisoning. All family members recovered within 48 hours after receiving supportive therapy only. Manipulation of certain soft corals found in sea aquariums can cause emission of palytoxin. This may cause a potentially severe episode of poisoning. When working in a sea aquarium protective measures should be taken. There is no specific therapy for or antidote to palytoxin poisoning and for this reason, treatment is supportive.

Sterol patterns of cultured zooxanthellae isolated from marine invertebrates: Synthesis of gorgosterol and 23-desmethylgorgosterol by aposymbiotic algae.

PubMed

Withers, N W; Kokke, W C; Fenical, W; Djerassi, C

1982-06-01

QUANTITATIVE STEROL COMPOSITIONS OF CULTURED ZOOXANTHELLAE ISOLATED FROM VARIOUS PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC INVERTEBRATE HOSTS: Zoanthus sociatus (a zoanthid), Oculina diffusa (a scleractian coral), Tridacna gigas (a giant clam), Melibe pilosa (a nudibranch), and Aiptasia pulchella (a sea anemone) are reported. The results clearly demonstrate large differences in sterol patterns of zooxanthellae and that there is no obvious relationship between the taxonomic affiliation of the host and the sterol pattern of its isolated symbiont. The sterols of the zooxanthellae of O. diffusa (Cnidaria) and T. gigas (Mollusca) are qualitatively equivalent. Based on the structures of the two major free sterols synthesized by each alga, the zooxanthellae from different hosts were separated into three distinct groups. It was also found that an aposymbiotic alga can synthesize the unique marine sterols gorgosterol and 23-desmethylgorgosterol. Most of the sterols were identified by using mass spectroscopy and 360-MHz proton magnetic resonance. Spectroscopic data are reported for four novel sterols-(23,24R)-dimethyl-5alpha-cholest-(22E)-en-3beta-o l, 23-methyl-5alpha-cholest-22E-en-3beta-ol, cholesta-5,14-dien-3beta-ol, and 4alpha-methyl-5alpha-cholesta-8(14)-24-dien-3beta-ol.

Color transitions in coral's fluorescent proteins by site-directed mutagenesis

PubMed Central

Gurskaya, Nadya G; Savitsky, Alexander P; Yanushevich, Yurii G; Lukyanov, Sergey A; Lukyanov, Konstantin A

2001-01-01

Background Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) cloned from jellyfish Aequorea victoria and its homologs from corals Anthozoa have a great practical significance as in vivo markers of gene expression. Also, they are an interesting puzzle of protein science due to an unusual mechanism of chromophore formation and diversity of fluorescent colors. Fluorescent proteins can be subdivided into cyan (~ 485 nm), green (~ 505 nm), yellow (~ 540 nm), and red (>580 nm) emitters. Results Here we applied site-directed mutagenesis in order to investigate the structural background of color variety and possibility of shifting between different types of fluorescence. First, a blue-shifted mutant of cyan amFP486 was generated. Second, it was established that cyan and green emitters can be modified so as to produce an intermediate spectrum of fluorescence. Third, the relationship between green and yellow fluorescence was inspected on closely homologous green zFP506 and yellow zFP538 proteins. The following transitions of colors were performed: yellow to green; yellow to dual color (green and yellow); and green to yellow. Fourth, we generated a mutant of cyan emitter dsFP483 that demonstrated dual color (cyan and red) fluorescence. Conclusions Several amino acid substitutions were found to strongly affect fluorescence maxima. Some positions primarily found by sequence comparison were proved to be crucial for fluorescence of particular color. These results are the first step towards predicting the color of natural GFP-like proteins corresponding to newly identified cDNAs from corals. PMID:11459517

Mechanisms of energy conversion and transfer in bioluminescence. Progress report, August 15, 1976--November 14, 1977. [Renilla (anthozoa)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cormier, M.J.

1977-01-01

Progress is reported on the following studies: isolation of luciferase and green fluorescent protein (GFP) from Renilla; chemical properties and chemical reactions of luciferase and GFP; and analogy of energy transfer in bioluminescence to energy transfer in photosynthesis. (HLW)

Edwardsia sojabio sp. n. (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria: Edwardsiidae), a new abyssal sea anemone from the Sea ofJapan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanamyan, Nadya; Sanamyan, Karen

2013-02-01

The paper describes new deep-water edwardsiid sea anemone Edwardsia sojabio sp. n. which is very common on soft muddy bottoms at lower bathyal and upper abyssal depths in the Sea of Japan. It was recorded in high quantity in depths between 2545 and 3550 m and is the second abyssal species of the genus Edwardsia.

Deep-water scleractinian corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from 2010-2011 INDEMARES expeditions to the Galicia Bank (Spain, northeast Atlantic).

PubMed

Altuna, Alvaro

2017-11-23

During surveys in the Galicia Bank (northeastern Atlantic) in the years 2010-2011 (INDEMARES project), 25 species of scleractinian corals corals were collected in a depth interval of 744-1764 m. Most interesting species are described and depicted. Additionally, species list and remarks are given for the 23 species dredged in the bank during the 1987 SEAMOUNT 1 expedition at 675-1125 m depth.From a literature review and new records from Galicia Bank given herein, 31 species of scleractinian corals are known from this seamount in a depth interval of 614-1764 m depth. Six are colonial and 25 solitary, with 17 occurring on hard bottoms and 14 on soft bottoms. Desmophyllum dianthus, Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata are the most widely distributed species in both number of stations and depth range of specimens collected alive. Some species were recorded outside their previously known bathymetric ranges in the northeastern Atlantic. Javania pseudoalabastra is first documented for the Iberian Peninsula and Spanish faunas. Thrypticotrochus sp. is first collected from the Atlantic Ocean.

Analyses of Corallimorpharian Transcriptomes Provide New Perspectives on the Evolution of Calcification in the Scleractinia (Corals).

PubMed

Lin, Mei-Fang; Moya, Aurelie; Ying, Hua; Chen, Chaolun Allen; Cooke, Ira; Ball, Eldon E; Forêt, Sylvain; Miller, David J

2017-01-01

Corallimorpharians (coral-like anemones) have a close phylogenetic relationship with scleractinians (hard corals) and can potentially provide novel perspectives on the evolution of biomineralization within the anthozoan subclass Hexacorallia. A survey of the transcriptomes of three representative corallimorpharians led to the identification of homologs of some skeletal organic matrix proteins (SOMPs) previously considered to be restricted to corals.Carbonic anhydrases (CAs), which are ubiquitous proteins involved in CO2 trafficking, are involved in both coral calcification and photosynthesis by endosymbiotic Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae). These multiple roles are assumed to place increased demands on the CA repertoire and have presumably driven the elaboration of the complex CA repertoires typical of corals (note that "corals" are defined here as reef-building Scleractinia). Comparison of the CA inventories of corallimorpharians with those of corals reveals that corals have specifically expanded the secreted and membrane-associated type CAs, whereas similar complexity is observed in the two groups with respect to other CA types.Comparison of the CA complement of the nonsymbiotic corallimorph Corynactis australis with that of Ricordea yuma, a corallimorph which normally hosts Symbiodinium, reveals similar numbers and distribution of CA types and suggests that an expansion of the CA repertoire has been necessary to enable calcification but may not be a requirement to enable symbiosis. Consistent with this idea, preliminary analysis suggests that the CA complexity of zooxanthellate and nonzooxanthellate sea anemones is similar.The comparisons above suggest that although there are relatively few new genes in the skeletal organic matrix of corals (which controls the skeleton deposition process), the evolution of calcification required an expanded repertoire of secreted and membrane-associated CAs. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of

Identification of long non-coding RNAs in two anthozoan species and their possible implications for coral bleaching.

PubMed

Huang, Chen; Morlighem, Jean-Étienne R L; Cai, Jing; Liao, Qiwen; Perez, Carlos Daniel; Gomes, Paula Braga; Guo, Min; Rádis-Baptista, Gandhi; Lee, Simon Ming-Yuen

2017-07-13

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play regulatory roles in a diverse range of biological processes and are associated with the outcomes of various diseases. The majority of studies about lncRNAs focus on model organisms, with lessened investigation in non-model organisms to date. Herein, we have undertaken an investigation on lncRNA in two zoanthids (cnidarian): Protolpalythoa varibilis and Palythoa caribaeorum. A total of 11,206 and 13,240 lncRNAs were detected in P. variabilis and P. caribaeorum transcriptome, respectively. Comparison using NONCODE database indicated that the majority of these lncRNAs is taxonomically species-restricted with no identifiable orthologs. Even so, we found cases in which short regions of P. caribaeorum's lncRNAs were similar to vertebrate species' lncRNAs, and could be associated with lncRNA conserved regulatory functions. Consequently, some high-confidence lncRNA-mRNA interactions were predicted based on such conserved regions, therefore revealing possible involvement of lncRNAs in posttranscriptional processing and regulation in anthozoans. Moreover, investigation of differentially expressed lncRNAs, in healthy colonies and colonial individuals undergoing natural bleaching, indicated that some up-regulated lncRNAs in P. caribaeorum could posttranscriptionally regulate the mRNAs encoding proteins of Ras-mediated signal transduction pathway and components of innate immune-system, which could contribute to the molecular response of coral bleaching.

Microbiomes of Muricea californica and M. fruticosa: Comparative Analyses of Two Co-occurring Eastern Pacific Octocorals.

PubMed

Holm, Johanna B; Heidelberg, Karla B

2016-01-01

Octocorals are sources of novel but understudied microbial diversity. Conversely, scleractinian or reef-building coral microbiomes have been heavily examined in light of the threats of climate change. Muricea californica and Muricea fruticosa are two co-occurring species of gorgonian octocoral abundantly found in the kelp forests of southern California, and thus provide an excellent basis to determine if octocoral microbiomes are host specific. Using Illumina MiSeq amplicon sequencing and replicate samples, we evaluated the microbiomes collected from multiple colonies of both species of Muricea to measure both inter- and intra-colony microbiome variabilities. In addition, microbiomes from overlying sea water and nearby zoanthids (another benthic invertebrate) were also included in the analysis to evaluate whether bacterial taxa specifically associate with octocorals. This is also the first report of microbiomes from these species of Muricea. We show that microbiomes isolated from each sample type are distinct, and specifically, that octocoral species type had the greatest effect on predicting the composition of the Muricea microbiome. Bacterial taxa contributing to compositional differences include distinct strains of Mycoplasma associated with either M. californica or M. fruticosa, an abundance of Spirochaetes observed on M. californica, and a greater diversity of γ-Proteobacteria associated with M. fruticosa. Many of the bacterial taxa contributing to these differences are known for their presence in photosymbiont-containing invertebrate microbiomes.

Marine toxins and the cytoskeleton: a new view of palytoxin toxicity.

PubMed

Louzao, M Carmen; Ares, Isabel R; Cagide, Eva

2008-12-01

Palytoxin is a marine toxin first isolated from zoanthids (genus Palythoa), even though dinoflagellates of the genus Ostreopsis are the most probable origin of the toxin. Ostreopsis has a wide distribution in tropical and subtropical areas, but recently these dinoflagellates have also started to appear in the Mediterranean Sea. Two of the most remarkable properties of palytoxin are the large and complex structure (with different analogs, such as ostreocin-D or ovatoxin-a) and the extreme acute animal toxicity. The Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase has been proposed as receptor for palytoxin. The marine toxin is known to act on the Na(+) pump and elicit an increase in Na(+) permeability, which leads to depolarization and a secondary Ca(2+) influx, interfering with some functions of cells. Studies on the cellular cytoskeleton have revealed that the signaling cascade triggered by palytoxin leads to actin filament system distortion. The activity of palytoxin on the actin cytoskeleton is only partially associated with the cytosolic Ca(2+) changes; therefore, this ion represents an important factor in altering this structure, but it is not the only cause. The goal of the present minireview is to compile the findings reported to date about: (a) how palytoxin and analogs are able to modify the actin cytoskeleton within different cellular models; and (b) what signaling mechanisms could be involved in the modulation of cytoskeletal dynamics by palytoxin.

The synthesis of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) by cultured, symbiotic dinoflagellates.

PubMed

T Banaszak1 A; LaJeunesse; Trench

2000-06-28

We tested the hypothesis that there is a relation between phylotypes (phylogenetic types, as determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and partial sequence analysis of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSUrDNA)) and the synthesis of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) by symbiotic dinoflagellates under the influence of ultraviolet radiation (UV-B/A) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). We exposed 27 isolates of symbiotic dinoflagellates simultaneously to UV-B/A and PAR, and subsequently determined the MAAs present in cell extracts and in the media. The algae used included 24 isolates of Symbiodinium spp. originating from jellyfishes, sea anemones, zoanthids, scleractinians, octocorals, and bivalves, and three others in the genera Gymnodinium, Gloeodinium and Amphidinium from a jellyfish, an hydrocoral and a flatworm, respectively. In this study, all of the phylotype A Symbiodinium spp. synthesized up to three identified MAAs. None of the 11 cultured phylotypes B and C Symbiodinium spp. synthesized MAAs. The three non-Symbiodinium symbionts also synthesized up to three MAAs. The results support a conclusion that phylotype A Symbiodinium spp. have a high predilection for the synthesis of MAAs, while phylotypes B and C do not. Synthesis of MAAs by symbiotic dinoflagellates in culture does not appear to relate directly to depths or to the UV exposure regimes from which the consortia were collected.

Palytoxin: Exploiting a novel skin tumor promoter to explore signal transduction and carcinogenesis

PubMed Central

Wattenberg, Elizabeth V.

2006-01-01

Palytoxin is a novel skin tumor promoter, which has been used to help probe the role of different types of signaling mechanisms in carcinogenesis. The multi-stage mouse skin model indicates that tumor promotion is an early, prolonged, and reversible phase of carcinogenesis. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying tumor promotion is therefore important for developing strategies to prevent and treat cancer. Naturally occurring tumor promoters that bind to specific cellular receptors have proven to be useful tools for investigating important biochemical events in multi-stage carcinogenesis. For example, the identification of protein kinase C as the receptor for the prototypical skin tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) (also called phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate or PMA) provided key evidence that tumor promotion involves the aberrant modulation of signaling cascades that govern cell fate and function. The subsequent discovery that palytoxin, a marine toxin isolated from zoanthids (genus Palythoa), is a potent skin tumor promoter yet does not activate protein kinase C indicated that investigating palytoxin action could help reveal new aspects of tumor promotion. Interestingly, the putative receptor for palytoxin is the Na+,K+-ATPase. This review focuses on palytoxin-stimulated signaling, and how palytoxin has been used to investigate alternate biochemical mechanisms by which important targets in carcinogenesis can be modulated. PMID:16855216

Microbiomes of Muricea californica and M. fruticosa: Comparative Analyses of Two Co-occurring Eastern Pacific Octocorals

PubMed Central

Holm, Johanna B.; Heidelberg, Karla B.

2016-01-01

Octocorals are sources of novel but understudied microbial diversity. Conversely, scleractinian or reef-building coral microbiomes have been heavily examined in light of the threats of climate change. Muricea californica and Muricea fruticosa are two co-occurring species of gorgonian octocoral abundantly found in the kelp forests of southern California, and thus provide an excellent basis to determine if octocoral microbiomes are host specific. Using Illumina MiSeq amplicon sequencing and replicate samples, we evaluated the microbiomes collected from multiple colonies of both species of Muricea to measure both inter- and intra-colony microbiome variabilities. In addition, microbiomes from overlying sea water and nearby zoanthids (another benthic invertebrate) were also included in the analysis to evaluate whether bacterial taxa specifically associate with octocorals. This is also the first report of microbiomes from these species of Muricea. We show that microbiomes isolated from each sample type are distinct, and specifically, that octocoral species type had the greatest effect on predicting the composition of the Muricea microbiome. Bacterial taxa contributing to compositional differences include distinct strains of Mycoplasma associated with either M. californica or M. fruticosa, an abundance of Spirochaetes observed on M. californica, and a greater diversity of γ-Proteobacteria associated with M. fruticosa. Many of the bacterial taxa contributing to these differences are known for their presence in photosymbiont-containing invertebrate microbiomes. PMID:27445997

First Identification of Palytoxin-Like Molecules in the Atlantic Coral Species Palythoa canariensis.

PubMed

Fraga, María; Vilariño, Natalia; Louzao, M Carmen; Molina, Lucía; López, Yanira; Poli, Mark; Botana, Luis M

2017-07-18

Palytoxin (PLTX) is a complex marine toxin produced by Zoanthids (Palyhtoa), dinoflagellates (Ostreopsis), and cyanobacteria (Trichodesmium). Contact with PLTX-like compounds present in aerosols or marine organisms has been associated with adverse effects on humans. The worldwide distribution of producer species and seafood contaminated with PLTX-like molecules illustrates the global threat to human health. The identification of species capable of palytoxin production is critical for human safety. We studied the presence of PLTX analogues in Palythoa canariensis, a coral species collected in the Atlantic Ocean never described as a PLTX-producer before. Two methodologies were used for the detection of these toxins: a microsphere-based immunoassay that offered an estimation of the content of PLTX-like molecules in a Palythoa canariensis extract and an ultrahigh-pressure liquid chromatography coupled to an ion trap with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (UPLC-IT-TOF-MS) that allowed the characterization of the toxin profile. The results demonstrated the presence of PLTX, hydroxy-PLTX and, at least, two additional compounds with PLTX-like profile in the Palythoa canariensis sample. The PLTX content was estimated in 0.27 mg/g of lyophilized coral using UPLC-IT-TOF-MS. Therefore, this work demonstrates that Palythoa canariensis produces a mixture of PLTX-like molecules. This is of special relevance to safeguard human health considering Palythoa species are commonly used for decoration by aquarium hobbyists.

Cnidarian-derived filamentous fungi from Brazil: isolation, characterisation and RBBR decolourisation screening.

PubMed

Da Silva, M; Passarini, M R Z; Bonugli, R C; Sette, L D

2008-12-01

Marine-derived fungi represent a valuable source of structurally novel and biologically active metabolites of industrial interest. They also have drawn attention for their capacity to degrade several pollutants, including textile dyes, organochlorides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), among others. The fungal tolerance to higher concentrations of salt might be considered an advantage for bioremediation processes in the marine environment. Therefore, filamentous fungi were isolated from cnidarians (scleractinian coral and zoanthids) collected from the north coast of São Paulo State, Brazil. A total of 144 filamentous fungi were morphologically and molecularly characterised. Among them there were several species of Penicillium and Aspergillus, in addition to Cladosporium spp., Eutypella sp., Fusarium spp., Khuskia sp., Mucor sp., Peacilomyces sp., Phoma sp. and Trichoderma spp. These fungi were tested regarding their decolourisation activity for Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR), a textile dye used as an initial screening for PAH-degrading fungi. The most efficient fungi for RBBR decolourisation after 12 days were Penicillium citrinum CBMAI 853 (100%), Aspergillus sulphureus CBMAI 849 (95%), Cladosporium cladosporioides CBMAI 857 (93%) and Trichoderma sp. CBMAI 852 (89%). Besides its efficiency for dye decolourisation within liquid media, C. cladosporioides CBMAI 857 also decolourised dye on solid media, forming a decolourisation halo. Further research on the biotechnological potential, including studies on PAH metabolism, of these selected fungi are in progress.

The “Naked Coral” Hypothesis Revisited – Evidence for and Against Scleractinian Monophyly

PubMed Central

Forêt, Sylvain; Huttley, Gavin; Miller, David J.; Chen, Chaolun Allen

2014-01-01

The relationship between Scleractinia and Corallimorpharia, Orders within Anthozoa distinguished by the presence of an aragonite skeleton in the former, is controversial. Although classically considered distinct groups, some phylogenetic analyses have placed the Corallimorpharia within a larger Scleractinia/Corallimorpharia clade, leading to the suggestion that the Corallimorpharia are “naked corals” that arose via skeleton loss during the Cretaceous from a Scleractinian ancestor. Scleractinian paraphyly is, however, contradicted by a number of recent phylogenetic studies based on mt nucleotide (nt) sequence data. Whereas the “naked coral” hypothesis was based on analysis of the sequences of proteins encoded by a relatively small number of mt genomes, here a much-expanded dataset was used to reinvestigate hexacorallian phylogeny. The initial observation was that, whereas analyses based on nt data support scleractinian monophyly, those based on amino acid (aa) data support the “naked coral” hypothesis, irrespective of the method and with very strong support. To better understand the bases of these contrasting results, the effects of systematic errors were examined. Compared to other hexacorallians, the mt genomes of “Robust” corals have a higher (A+T) content, codon usage is far more constrained, and the proteins that they encode have a markedly higher phenylalanine content, leading us to suggest that mt DNA repair may be impaired in this lineage. Thus the “naked coral” topology could be caused by high levels of saturation in these mitochondrial sequences, long-branch effects or model violations. The equivocal results of these extensive analyses highlight the fundamental problems of basing coral phylogeny on mitochondrial sequence data. PMID:24740380

Colorful Packages: Encapsulation of Fluorescent Proteins in Complex Coacervate Core Micelles

PubMed Central

Westphal, Adrie H.; Kleijn, J. Mieke; Borst, Jan Willem

2017-01-01

Encapsulation of proteins can be beneficial for food and biomedical applications. To study their biophysical properties in complex coacervate core micelles (C3Ms), we previously encapsulated enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and its monomeric variant, mEGFP, with the cationic-neutral diblock copolymer poly(2-methyl-vinyl-pyridinium)n-b-poly(ethylene-oxide)m (P2MVPn-b-PEOm) as enveloping material. C3Ms with high packaging densities of fluorescent proteins (FPs) were obtained, resulting in a restricted orientational freedom of the protein molecules, influencing their structural and spectral properties. To address the generality of this behavior, we encapsulated seven FPs with P2MVP41-b-PEO205 and P2MVP128-b-PEO477. Dynamic light scattering and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy showed lower encapsulation efficiencies for members of the Anthozoa class (anFPs) than for Hydrozoa FPs derived from Aequorea victoria (avFPs). Far-UV CD spectra of the free FPs showed remarkable differences between avFPs and anFPs, caused by rounder barrel structures for avFPs and more elliptic ones for anFPs. These structural differences, along with the differences in charge distribution, might explain the variations in encapsulation efficiency between avFPs and anFPs. Furthermore, the avFPs remain monomeric in C3Ms with minor spectral and structural changes. In contrast, the encapsulation of anFPs gives rise to decreased quantum yields (monomeric Kusabira Orange 2 (mKO2) and Tag red fluorescent protein (TagRFP)) or to a pKa shift of the chromophore (FP variant mCherry). PMID:28753915

Evolutionary transitions in symbioses: dramatic reductions in bathymetric and geographic ranges of Zoanthidea coincide with loss of symbioses with invertebrates.

PubMed

Swain, Timothy D

2010-06-01

Two fundamental symbiosis-based trophic types are recognized among Zoanthidea (Cnidaria, Anthozoa): fixed carbon is either obtained directly from zooxanthellae photosymbionts or from environmental sources through feeding with the assistance of host-invertebrate behaviour and structure. Each trophic type is characteristic of the suborders of Zoanthidea and is associated with substantial distributional asymmetries: suborder Macrocnemina are symbionts of invertebrates and have global geographic and bathymetric distributions and suborder Brachycnemina are hosts of endosymbiotic zooxanthellae and are restricted to tropical photic zones. While exposure to solar radiation could explain the bathymetric asymmetry it does not explain the geographic asymmetry, nor is it clear why evolutionary transitions to the zooxanthellae-free state have apparently occurred within Macrocnemina but not within Brachycnemina. To better understand the transitions between symbiosis-based trophic types of Zoanthidea, a concatenated data set of nuclear and mitochondrial nucleotide sequences were used to test hypotheses of monophyly for groups defined by morphology and symbiosis, and to reconstruct the evolutionary transitions of morphological and symbiotic characters. The results indicate that the morphological characters that define Macrocnemina are plesiomorphic and the characters that define its subordinate taxa are homoplasious. Symbioses with invertebrates have ancient and recent transitions with a general pattern of stability in host associations through evolutionary time. The reduction in distribution of Zoanthidea is independent of the evolution of zooxanthellae symbiosis and consistent with hypotheses of the benefits of invertebrate symbioses, indicating that the ability to persist in most habitats may have been lost with the termination of symbioses with invertebrates.

An illustrated key to the genera and subgenera of the Recent azooxanthellate Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa), with an attached glossary.

PubMed

Cairns, Stephen D; Kitahara, Marcelo V

2012-01-01

The 120 presently recognized genera and seven subgenera of the azooxanthellate Scleractinia are keyed using gross morphological characters of the corallum. All genera are illustrated with calicular and side views of coralla. All termes used in the key are defined in an illustrated glossary. A table of all species-level keys, both comprehensive and faunistic, is provided covering the last 40 years.

Yolk formation in a stony coral Euphyllia ancora (Cnidaria, Anthozoa): insight into the evolution of vitellogenesis in nonbilaterian animals.

PubMed

Shikina, Shinya; Chen, Chieh-Jhen; Chung, Yi-Jou; Shao, Zi-Fan; Liou, Jhe-Yu; Tseng, Hua-Pin; Lee, Yan-Horn; Chang, Ching-Fong

2013-09-01

Vitellogenin (Vg) is a major yolk protein precursor in numerous oviparous animals. Numerous studies in bilateral oviparous animals have shown that Vg sequences are conserved across taxa and that Vgs are synthesized by somatic-cell lineages, transported to and accumulated in oocytes, and eventually used for supporting embryogenesis. In nonbilateral animals (Polifera, Cnidaria, and Ctenophora), which are regarded as evolutionarily primitive, although Vg cDNA has been identified in 2 coral species from Cnidaria, relatively little is known about the characteristics of yolk formation in their bodies. To address this issue, we identified and characterized 2 cDNA encoding yolk proteins, Vg and egg protein (Ep), in the stony coral Euphyllia ancora. RT-PCR analysis revealed that expression levels of both Vg and Ep increased in the female colonies as coral approached the spawning season. In addition, high levels of both Vg and Ep transcripts were detected in the putative ovarian tissue, as determined by tissue distribution analysis. Further analyses using mRNA in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry determined that, within the putative ovarian tissue, these yolk proteins are synthesized in the mesenterial somatic cells but not in oocytes themselves. Furthermore, Vg proteins that accumulated in eggs were most likely consumed during the coral embryonic development, as assessed by immunoblotting. The characteristics of Vg that we identified in corals were somewhat similar to those of Vg in bilaterian oviparous animals, raising the hypothesis that such characteristics were likely present in the oogenesis of some common ancestor prior to divergence of the cnidarian and bilaterian lineages.

Clone wars: asexual reproduction dominates in the invasive range of Tubastraea spp. (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) in the South-Atlantic Ocean

PubMed Central

Toonen, Robert J.; Rachid, Caio T.C.C.; Creed, Joel C.; Kitahara, Marcelo V.; Forsman, Zac; Zilberberg, Carla

2017-01-01

Although the invasive azooxanthellate corals Tubastraea coccinea and T. tagusensis are spreading quickly and outcompeting native species in the Atlantic Ocean, there is little information regarding the genetic structure and path of introduction for these species. Here we present the first data on genetic diversity and clonal structure from these two species using a new set of microsatellite markers. High proportions of clones were observed, indicating that asexual reproduction has a major role in the local population dynamics and, therefore, represents one of the main reasons for the invasion success. Although no significant population structure was found, results suggest the occurrence of multiple invasions for T. coccinea and also that both species are being transported along the coast by vectors such as oil platforms and monobouys, spreading these invasive species. In addition to the description of novel microsatellite markers, this study sheds new light into the invasive process of Tubastraea. PMID:29018611

Echinophyllia tarae sp. n. (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Scleractinia), a new reef coral species from the Gambier Islands, French Polynesia

PubMed Central

Benzoni, Francesca

2013-01-01

Abstract A new shallow water scleractinian coral species, Echinophyllia tarae sp. n., is described from the Gambier Islands, French Polynesia. It is characterized by an encrusting corallum, a few large and highly variable corallites with protruding walls, and distinctive costosepta. This coral was observed in muddy environments where several colonies showed partial mortality and re-growth. The new species has morphological affinities with both Echinophyllia echinata and with Echinomorpha nishihirai, from which it can be distinguished on the basis of the diameter and the protrusion of the largest corallite, the thickness of the septa, and the development of the size of the crown of paliform lobes. PMID:23950677

Viruses: agents of coral disease?

PubMed

Davy, S K; Burchett, S G; Dale, A L; Davies, P; Davy, J E; Muncke, C; Hoegh-Guldberg, O; Wilson, W H

2006-03-23

The potential role of viruses in coral disease has only recently begun to receive attention. Here we describe our attempts to determine whether viruses are present in thermally stressed corals Pavona danai, Acropora formosa and Stylophora pistillata and zoanthids Zoanthus sp., and their zooxanthellae. Heat-shocked P. danai, A. formosa and Zoanthus sp. all produced numerous virus-like particles (VLPs) that were evident in the animal tissue, zooxanthellae and the surrounding seawater; VLPs were also seen around heat-shocked freshly isolated zooxanthellae (FIZ) from P. danai and S. pistillata. The most commonly seen VLPs were tail-less, hexagonal and about 40 to 50 nm in diameter, though a diverse range of other VLP morphotypes (e.g. rounded, rod-shaped, droplet-shaped, filamentous) were also present around corals. When VLPs around heat-shocked FIZ from S. pistillata were added to non-stressed FIZ from this coral, they resulted in cell lysis, suggesting that an infectious agent was present; however, analysis with transmission electron microscopy provided no clear evidence of viral infection. The release of diverse VLPs was again apparent when flow cytometry was used to enumerate release by heat-stressed A. formosa nubbins. Our data support the infection of reef corals by viruses, though we cannot yet determine the precise origin (i.e. coral, zooxanthellae and/or surface microbes) of the VLPs seen. Furthermore, genome sequence data are required to establish the presence of viruses unequivocally.

Toxicological studies on palytoxin and ostreocin-D administered to mice by three different routes.

PubMed

Ito, Emiko; Yasumoto, Takeshi

2009-09-01

Palytoxin (PLT) first isolated from zoanthids is extremely lethal to animals by intraperitoneal or intravenous administration but shows little toxicity by gavage dosing in contradiction to the occurrence of fatal poisoning due to PLT-containing seafood. In order to fully elucidate its potential risks to human we evaluated the toxicological effects via three ways of dosing: gavage, intra-tracheal administration (IT) and sublingual administration. A new analog, 42-hydroxy-3,26-didemethyl-19,44-dideoxypalytoxin isolated from the dinoflagellate Ostreopsis siamensis and named ostreocin-D (OSD), was also used for comparison, additionally conducted by i.p. By gavage dosing, both toxins did not produce death in mice at the maximum dosage of 200 microg/kg of PLT and 300 microg/kg of OSD. Addition of dietary lipid components to PLT solutions for gavage or use of ulcerated mice did not alter the results, indicating no enhancement of PLT absorption. The two toxins were most toxic by the IT route, causing bleeding and alveolar destruction in the lung and resultant death at 2 microg/kg of PLT, and 11 microg/kg of OSD. Both toxins also induced organ injuries after 24h when dosed by sublingual administration at about 200 microg/kg. The injuries became fatal when PLT was dosed 2 or 3 times. The results pointed to the necessity of taking multiple approaches to assess the potential health risks due to PLT and its analogs in food and environments.

Mitogenome rearrangement in the cold-water scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) involves a long-term evolving group I intron.

PubMed

Emblem, Åse; Karlsen, Bård Ove; Evertsen, Jussi; Johansen, Steinar D

2011-11-01

Group I introns are genetic insertion elements that invade host genomes in a wide range of organisms. In metazoans, however, group I introns are extremely rare, so far only identified within mitogenomes of hexacorals and some sponges. We sequenced the complete mitogenome of the cold-water scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa, the dominating deep sea reef-building coral species in the North Atlantic Ocean. The mitogenome (16,150 bp) has the same gene content but organized in a unique gene order compared to that of other known scleractinian corals. A complex group I intron (6460 bp) inserted in the ND5 gene (position 717) was found to host seven essential mitochondrial protein genes and one ribosomal RNA gene. Phylogenetic analysis supports a vertical inheritance pattern of the ND5-717 intron among hexacoral mitogenomes with no examples of intron loss. Structural assessments of the Lophelia intron revealed an unusual organization that lacks the universally conserved ωG at the 3' end, as well as a highly compact RNA core structure with overlapping ribozyme and protein coding capacities. Based on phylogenetic and structural analyses we reconstructed the evolutionary history of ND5-717, from its ancestral protist origin, through intron loss in some early metazoan lineages, and into a compulsory feature with functional implications in hexacorals. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gene duplications are extensive and contribute significantly to the toxic proteome of nematocysts isolated from Acropora digitifera (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Scleractinia).

PubMed

Gacesa, Ranko; Chung, Ray; Dunn, Simon R; Weston, Andrew J; Jaimes-Becerra, Adrian; Marques, Antonio C; Morandini, André C; Hranueli, Daslav; Starcevic, Antonio; Ward, Malcolm; Long, Paul F

2015-10-13

Gene duplication followed by adaptive selection is a well-accepted process leading to toxin diversification in venoms. However, emergent genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic evidence now challenges this role to be at best equivocal to other processess . Cnidaria are arguably the most ancient phylum of the extant metazoa that are venomous and such provide a definitive ancestral anchor to examine the evolution of this trait. Here we compare predicted toxins from the translated genome of the coral Acropora digitifera to putative toxins revealed by proteomic analysis of soluble proteins discharged from nematocysts, to determine the extent to which gene duplications contribute to venom innovation in this reef-building coral species. A new bioinformatics tool called HHCompare was developed to detect potential gene duplications in the genomic data, which is made freely available ( https://github.com/rgacesa/HHCompare ). A total of 55 potential toxin encoding genes could be predicted from the A. digitifera genome, of which 36 (65 %) had likely arisen by gene duplication as evinced using the HHCompare tool and verified using two standard phylogeny methods. Surprisingly, only 22 % (12/55) of the potential toxin repertoire could be detected following rigorous proteomic analysis, for which only half (6/12) of the toxin proteome could be accounted for as peptides encoded by the gene duplicates. Biological activities of these toxins are dominatedby putative phospholipases and toxic peptidases. Gene expansions in A. digitifera venom are the most extensive yet described in any venomous animal, and gene duplication plays a significant role leading to toxin diversification in this coral species. Since such low numbers of toxins were detected in the proteome, it is unlikely that the venom is evolving rapidly by prey-driven positive natural selection. Rather we contend that the venom has a defensive role deterring predation or harm from interspecific competition and overgrowth by fouling organisms. Factors influencing translation of toxin encoding genes perhaps warrants more profound experimental consideration.

Sea anemones may thrive in a high CO2 world.

PubMed

Suggett, David J; Hall-Spencer, Jason M; Rodolfo-Metalpa, Riccardo; Boatman, Toby G; Payton, Ross; Tye Pettay, D; Johnson, Vivienne R; Warner, Mark E; Lawson, Tracy

2012-10-01

Increased seawater pCO 2 , and in turn 'ocean acidification' (OA), is predicted to profoundly impact marine ecosystem diversity and function this century. Much research has already focussed on calcifying reef-forming corals (Class: Anthozoa) that appear particularly susceptible to OA via reduced net calcification. However, here we show that OA-like conditions can simultaneously enhance the ecological success of non-calcifying anthozoans, which not only play key ecological and biogeochemical roles in present day benthic ecosystems but also represent a model organism should calcifying anthozoans exist as less calcified (soft-bodied) forms in future oceans. Increased growth (abundance and size) of the sea anemone (Anemonia viridis) population was observed along a natural CO 2 gradient at Vulcano, Italy. Both gross photosynthesis (P G ) and respiration (R) increased with pCO 2 indicating that the increased growth was, at least in part, fuelled by bottom up (CO 2 stimulation) of metabolism. The increase of P G outweighed that of R and the genetic identity of the symbiotic microalgae (Symbiodinium spp.) remained unchanged (type A19) suggesting proximity to the vent site relieved CO 2 limitation of the anemones' symbiotic microalgal population. Our observations of enhanced productivity with pCO 2 , which are consistent with previous reports for some calcifying corals, convey an increase in fitness that may enable non-calcifying anthozoans to thrive in future environments, i.e. higher seawater pCO 2 . Understanding how CO 2 -enhanced productivity of non- (and less-) calcifying anthozoans applies more widely to tropical ecosystems is a priority where such organisms can dominate benthic ecosystems, in particular following localized anthropogenic stress. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Cellular organization and spectral diversity of GFP-like proteins in live coral cells studied by single and multiphoton imaging and microspectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salih, Anya; Cox, Guy C.; Larkum, Anthony W.

2003-07-01

Tissues of many marine invertebrates of class Anthozoa contain intensely fluorescent or brightly coloured pigments. These pigments belong to a family of photoactive proteins closely related to Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), and their emissions range from blue to red wavelengths. The great diversity of these pigments has only recently been realised. To investigate the role of these proteins in corals, we have performed an in vivo fluorescent pigment (FP) spectral and cellular distribution analyses in live coral cells using single and multi-photon laser scanning imaging and microspectroscopy. These analyses revealed that even single colour corals contain spectroscopically heterogeneous pigment mixtures, with 2-5 major colour types in the same area of tissue. They were typically arranged in step-wise light emission energy gradients (e.g. blue, green, yellow, red). The successive overlapping emission-excitation spectral profiles of differently coloured FPs suggested that they were suited for sequential energy coupling. Traces of red FPs (emission = 570-660 nm) were present, even in non-red corals. We confirmed that radiative energy transfer could occur between separate granules of blue and green FPs and that energy transfer was inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Multi-photon micro-spectrofluorometric analysis gave significantly improved spectral resolution by restricting FP excitation to a single point in the focal plane of the sample. Pigment heterogeneity at small scales within granules suggested that fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) might be occurring, and we confirmed that this was the case. Thus, energy transfer can take place both radiatively and by FRET, probably functioning in photoprotection by dissipation of excessive solar radiation.

Inducing Complete Polyp Regeneration from the Aboral Physa of the Starlet Sea Anemone Nematostella vectensis.

PubMed

Bossert, Patricia; Thomsen, Gerald H

2017-01-14

Cnidarians, and specifically Hydra, were the first animals shown to regenerate damaged or severed structures, and indeed such studies arguably launched modern biological inquiry through the work of Trembley more than 250 years ago. Presently the study of regeneration has seen a resurgence using both "classic" regenerative organisms, such as the Hydra, planaria and Urodeles, as well as a widening spectrum of species spanning the range of metazoa, from sponges through mammals. Besides its intrinsic interest as a biological phenomenon, understanding how regeneration works in a variety of species will inform us about whether regenerative processes share common features and/or species or context-specific cellular and molecular mechanisms. The starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, is an emerging model organism for regeneration. Like Hydra, Nematostella is a member of the ancient phylum, cnidaria, but within the class anthozoa, a sister clade to the hydrozoa that is evolutionarily more basal. Thus aspects of regeneration in Nematostella will be interesting to compare and contrast with those of Hydra and other cnidarians. In this article, we present a method to bisect, observe and classify regeneration of the aboral end of the Nematostella adult, which is called the physa. The physa naturally undergoes fission as a means of asexual reproduction, and either natural fission or manual amputation of the physa triggers re-growth and reformation of complex morphologies. Here we have codified these simple morphological changes in a Nematostella Regeneration Staging System (the NRSS). We use the NRSS to test the effects of chloroquine, an inhibitor of lysosomal function that blocks autophagy. The results show that the regeneration of polyp structures, particularly the mesenteries, is abnormal when autophagy is inhibited.

Directed evolution of a monomeric, bright and photostable version of Clavularia cyan fluorescent protein: structural characterization and applications in fluorescence imaging

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Al, Hui-wang; Henderson, J. Nathan; Remington, S. James

The arsenal of engineered variants of the GFP [green FP (fluorescent protein)] from Aequorea jellyfish provides researchers with a powerful set of tools for use in biochemical and cell biology research. The recent discovery of diverse FPs in Anthozoa coral species has provided protein engineers with an abundance of alternative progenitor FPs from which improved variants that complement or supersede existing Aequorea GFP variants could be derived. Here, we report the engineering of the first monomeric version of the tetrameric CFP (cyan FP) cFP484 from Clavularia coral. Starting from a designed synthetic gene library with mammalian codon preferences, we identifiedmore » dimeric cFP484 variants with fluorescent brightness significantly greater than the wild-type protein. Following incorporation of dimer-breaking mutations and extensive directed evolution with selection for blue-shifted emission, high fluorescent brightness and photostability, we arrived at an optimized variant that we have named mTFP1 [monomeric TFP1 (teal FP 1)]. The new mTFP1 is one of the brightest and most photostable FPs reported to date. In addition, the fluorescence is insensitive to physiologically relevant pH changes and the fluorescence lifetime decay is best fitted as a single exponential. The 1.19 {angstrom} crystal structure (1 {angstrom}=0.1 nm) of mTFP1 confirms the monomeric structure and reveals an unusually distorted chromophore conformation. As we experimentally demonstrate, the high quantum yield of mTFP1 (0.85) makes it particularly suitable as a replacement for ECFP (enhanced CFP) or Cerulean as a FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) donor to either a yellow or orange FP acceptor.« less

The innate immune repertoire in Cnidaria - ancestral complexity and stochastic gene loss

PubMed Central

Miller, David J; Hemmrich, Georg; Ball, Eldon E; Hayward, David C; Khalturin, Konstantin; Funayama, Noriko; Agata, Kiyokazu; Bosch, Thomas CG

2007-01-01

Background Characterization of the innate immune repertoire of extant cnidarians is of both fundamental and applied interest - it not only provides insights into the basic immunological 'tool kit' of the common ancestor of all animals, but is also likely to be important in understanding the global decline of coral reefs that is presently occurring. Recently, whole genome sequences became available for two cnidarians, Hydra magnipapillata and Nematostella vectensis, and large expressed sequence tag (EST) datasets are available for these and for the coral Acropora millepora. Results To better understand the basis of innate immunity in cnidarians, we scanned the available EST and genomic resources for some of the key components of the vertebrate innate immune repertoire, focusing on the Toll/Toll-like receptor (TLR) and complement pathways. A canonical Toll/TLR pathway is present in representatives of the basal cnidarian class Anthozoa, but neither a classic Toll/TLR receptor nor a conventional nuclear factor (NF)-κB could be identified in the anthozoan Hydra. Moreover, the detection of complement C3 and several membrane attack complex/perforin domain (MAC/PF) proteins suggests that a prototypic complement effector pathway may exist in anthozoans, but not in hydrozoans. Together with data for several other gene families, this implies that Hydra may have undergone substantial secondary gene loss during evolution. Such losses are not confined to Hydra, however, and at least one MAC/PF gene appears to have been lost from Nematostella. Conclusion Consideration of these patterns of gene distribution underscores the likely significance of gene loss during animal evolution whilst indicating ancient origins for many components of the vertebrate innate immune system. PMID:17437634

The innate immune repertoire in cnidaria--ancestral complexity and stochastic gene loss.

PubMed

Miller, David J; Hemmrich, Georg; Ball, Eldon E; Hayward, David C; Khalturin, Konstantin; Funayama, Noriko; Agata, Kiyokazu; Bosch, Thomas C G

2007-01-01

Characterization of the innate immune repertoire of extant cnidarians is of both fundamental and applied interest--it not only provides insights into the basic immunological 'tool kit' of the common ancestor of all animals, but is also likely to be important in understanding the global decline of coral reefs that is presently occurring. Recently, whole genome sequences became available for two cnidarians, Hydra magnipapillata and Nematostella vectensis, and large expressed sequence tag (EST) datasets are available for these and for the coral Acropora millepora. To better understand the basis of innate immunity in cnidarians, we scanned the available EST and genomic resources for some of the key components of the vertebrate innate immune repertoire, focusing on the Toll/Toll-like receptor (TLR) and complement pathways. A canonical Toll/TLR pathway is present in representatives of the basal cnidarian class Anthozoa, but neither a classic Toll/TLR receptor nor a conventional nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB could be identified in the anthozoan Hydra. Moreover, the detection of complement C3 and several membrane attack complex/perforin domain (MAC/PF) proteins suggests that a prototypic complement effector pathway may exist in anthozoans, but not in hydrozoans. Together with data for several other gene families, this implies that Hydra may have undergone substantial secondary gene loss during evolution. Such losses are not confined to Hydra, however, and at least one MAC/PF gene appears to have been lost from Nematostella. Consideration of these patterns of gene distribution underscores the likely significance of gene loss during animal evolution whilst indicating ancient origins for many components of the vertebrate innate immune system.

Uptake and Persistence of Homologous and Heterologous Zooxanthellae in the Temperate Sea Anemone Cereus pedunculatus (Pennant).

PubMed

Davy, S K; Lucas, I A N; Turner, J R

1997-04-01

The uptake and persistence of symbiotic dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae) were measured in the temperate sea anemone Cereus pedunculatus (Pennant). Aposymbiotic specimens of C. pedunculatus were inoculated with zooxanthellae freshly isolated from a range of temperate and subtropical Anthozoa. Each inoculate consisted of zooxanthellae from a single host species and was either homologous (zooxanthellae from a host of the same species as the one being inoculated) or heterologous (from a host of a different species than the one being inoculated). The densities of zooxanthellae in host tissues were determined at regular intervals. C. pedunculatus took up homologous and heterologous zooxanthellae to similar degrees, except for zooxanthellae from the temperate Anthopleura ballii, which were taken up to a lesser extent. The densities of all zooxanthellae declined between 4 hours and 4 days after uptake, indicating that zooxanthellae were expelled, digested, or both during this period. The densities of all zooxanthellae increased between 2 and 8 weeks after inoculation, indicating zooxanthella growth. Over the entire 8-week period after uptake, densities of homologous zooxanthellae were always greater than those of heterologous zooxanthellae. Between 8 and 36 weeks after infection, densities of homologous zooxanthellae declined markedly and densities of some heterologous zooxanthellae increased further, resulting in homologous and heterologous zooxanthella densities being the same at 36 weeks. These densities were the same as those in naturally infected C. pedunculatus of similar size. The results suggest that zooxanthellae from a range of host species and environments can establish symbioses with C. pedunculatus and that, over long periods under laboratory conditions, heterologous zooxanthellae may populate C. pedunculatus to the same extent as homologous zooxanthellae.

Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensor Method for Palytoxin Detection Based on Na+,K+-ATPase Affinity

PubMed Central

Alfonso, Amparo; Pazos, María-José; Fernández-Araujo, Andrea; Tobio, Araceli; Alfonso, Carmen; Vieytes, Mercedes R.; Botana, Luis M.

2013-01-01

Palytoxin (PLTX), produced by dinoflagellates from the genus Ostreopsis was first discovered, isolated, and purified from zoanthids belonging to the genus Palythoa. The detection of this toxin in contaminated shellfish is essential for human health preservation. A broad range of studies indicate that mammalian Na+,K+-ATPase is a high affinity cellular receptor for PLTX. The toxin converts the pump into an open channel that stimulates sodium influx and potassium efflux. In this work we develop a detection method for PLTX based on its binding to the Na+,K+-ATPase. The method was developed by using the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to monitor biomolecular reactions. This technique does not require any labeling of components. The interaction of PLTX over immobilized Na+,K+-ATPase is quantified by injecting different concentrations of toxin in the biosensor and checking the binding rate constant (kobs). From the representation of kobs versus PLTX concentration, the kinetic equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) for the PLTX-Na+,K+-ATPase association can be calculated. The value of this constant is KD = 6.38 × 10−7 ± 6.67 × 10−8 M PLTX. In this way the PLTX-Na+,K+-ATPase association was used as a suitable method for determination of the toxin concentration in a sample. This method represents a new and useful approach to easily detect the presence of PLTX-like compounds in marine products using the mechanism of action of these toxins and in this way reduce the use of other more expensive and animal based methods. PMID:24379088

Gross and microscopic morphology of lesions in Cnidaria from Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williams, Gareth J.; Work, Thierry M.; Aeby, Greta S.; Knapp, Ingrid S.; Davy, Simon K.

2011-01-01

We conducted gross and microscopic characterizations of lesions in Cnidaria from Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific. We found growth anomalies (GA) to be the most commonly encountered lesion. Cases of discoloration and tissue loss were rare. GAs had a focal or multi-focal distribution and were predominantly nodular, exophytic, and umbonate. In scleractinians, the majority of GAs manifested as hyperplasia of the basal body wall (52% of cases), with an associated absence or reduction of polyp structure (mesenteries and filaments, actinopharynx and tentacles), and depletion of zooxanthellae in the gastrodermis of the upper body wall. In the soft corals Sinularia sp. and Lobophytum sp., GAs exclusively manifested as prominent hyperplasia of the coenenchyme with an increased density of solenia. In contrast to scleractinians, soft coral GAs displayed an inflammatory and necrotizing component with marked edema of the mesoglea, accompanied by infiltrates of variably-sized granular amoebocytes. Fungi, algae, sponges, and Crustacea were present in some scleractinian GAs, but absent in soft coral GAs. Fragmentation of tissues was a common finding in Acropora acuminata and Montipora cf. dilatata colonies with tissue loss, although no obvious causative agents were seen. Discoloration in the zoanthid, Palythoa tuberculosa, was found to be the result of necrosis, while in Lobophytum sp. discoloration was the result of zooxanthellar depletion (bleaching). Soft corals with discoloration or tissue loss showed a marked inflammatory response, however no obvious causative organisms were seen. Lesions that appeared similar at the gross level were revealed to be distinct by microscopy, emphasizing the importance of histopathology.

Identification of Scleractinian Coral Recruits Using Fluorescent Censusing and DNA Barcoding Techniques

PubMed Central

Hsu, Chia-Min; de Palmas, Stéphane; Kuo, Chao-Yang; Denis, Vianney; Chen, Chaolun Allen

2014-01-01

The identification of coral recruits has been problematic due to a lack of definitive morphological characters being available for higher taxonomic resolution. In this study, we tested whether fluorescent detection of coral recruits used in combinations of different DNA-barcoding markers (cytochrome oxidase I gene [COI], open reading frame [ORF], and nuclear Pax-C intron [PaxC]) could be useful for increasing the resolution of coral spat identification in ecological studies. One hundred and fifty settlement plates were emplaced at nine sites on the fringing reefs of Kenting National Park in southern Taiwan between April 2011 and September 2012. A total of 248 living coral spats and juveniles (with basal areas ranging from 0.21 to 134.57 mm2) were detected on the plates with the aid of fluorescent light and collected for molecular analyses. Using the COI DNA barcoding technique, 90.3% (224/248) of coral spats were successfully identified into six genera, including Acropora, Isopora, Montipora, Pocillopora, Porites, and Pavona. PaxC further separated I. cuneata and I. palifera of Isopora from Acropora, and ORF successfully identified the species of Pocillopora (except P. meandrina and P. eydouxi). Moreover, other cnidarian species such as actinarians, zoanthids, and Millepora species were visually found using fluorescence and identified by COI DNA barcoding. This combination of existing approaches greatly improved the taxonomic resolution of early coral life stages, which to date has been mainly limited to the family level based on skeletal identification. Overall, this study suggests important improvements for the identification of coral recruits in ecological studies. PMID:25211345

Gross and microscopic morphology of lesions in Cnidaria from Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific.

PubMed

Williams, Gareth J; Work, Thierry M; Aeby, Greta S; Knapp, Ingrid S; Davy, Simon K

2011-02-01

We conducted gross and microscopic characterizations of lesions in Cnidaria from Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific. We found growth anomalies (GA) to be the most commonly encountered lesion. Cases of discoloration and tissue loss were rare. GAs had a focal or multi-focal distribution and were predominantly nodular, exophytic, and umbonate. In scleractinians, the majority of GAs manifested as hyperplasia of the basal body wall (52% of cases), with an associated absence or reduction of polyp structure (mesenteries and filaments, actinopharynx and tentacles), and depletion of zooxanthellae in the gastrodermis of the upper body wall. In the soft corals Sinularia sp. and Lobophytum sp., GAs exclusively manifested as prominent hyperplasia of the coenenchyme with an increased density of solenia. In contrast to scleractinians, soft coral GAs displayed an inflammatory and necrotizing component with marked edema of the mesoglea, accompanied by infiltrates of variably-sized granular amoebocytes. Fungi, algae, sponges, and Crustacea were present in some scleractinian GAs, but absent in soft coral GAs. Fragmentation of tissues was a common finding in Acropora acuminata and Montipora cf. dilatata colonies with tissue loss, although no obvious causative agents were seen. Discoloration in the zoanthid, Palythoa tuberculosa, was found to be the result of necrosis, while in Lobophytum sp. discoloration was the result of zooxanthellar depletion (bleaching). Soft corals with discoloration or tissue loss showed a marked inflammatory response, however no obvious causative organisms were seen. Lesions that appeared similar at the gross level were revealed to be distinct by microscopy, emphasizing the importance of histopathology. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Surface plasmon resonance biosensor method for palytoxin detection based on Na+,K+-ATPase affinity.

PubMed

Alfonso, Amparo; Pazos, María-José; Fernández-Araujo, Andrea; Tobio, Araceli; Alfonso, Carmen; Vieytes, Mercedes R; Botana, Luis M

2013-12-27

Palytoxin (PLTX), produced by dinoflagellates from the genus Ostreopsis was first discovered, isolated, and purified from zoanthids belonging to the genus Palythoa. The detection of this toxin in contaminated shellfish is essential for human health preservation. A broad range of studies indicate that mammalian Na+,K+-ATPase is a high affinity cellular receptor for PLTX. The toxin converts the pump into an open channel that stimulates sodium influx and potassium efflux. In this work we develop a detection method for PLTX based on its binding to the Na+,K+-ATPase. The method was developed by using the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to monitor biomolecular reactions. This technique does not require any labeling of components. The interaction of PLTX over immobilized Na+,K+-ATPase is quantified by injecting different concentrations of toxin in the biosensor and checking the binding rate constant (Kobs). From the representation of Kobs versus PLTX concentration, the kinetic equilibrium dissociation constant (K(D)) for the PLTX-Na+,K+-ATPase association can be calculated. The value of this constant is K(D) = 6.38 × 10-7 ± 6.67 × 10-8 M PLTX. In this way the PLTX-Na+,K+-ATPase association was used as a suitable method for determination of the toxin concentration in a sample. This method represents a new and useful approach to easily detect the presence of PLTX-like compounds in marine products using the mechanism of action of these toxins and in this way reduce the use of other more expensive and animal based methods.

Identification of scleractinian coral recruits using fluorescent censusing and DNA barcoding techniques.

PubMed

Hsu, Chia-Min; de Palmas, Stéphane; Kuo, Chao-Yang; Denis, Vianney; Chen, Chaolun Allen

2014-01-01

The identification of coral recruits has been problematic due to a lack of definitive morphological characters being available for higher taxonomic resolution. In this study, we tested whether fluorescent detection of coral recruits used in combinations of different DNA-barcoding markers (cytochrome oxidase I gene [COI], open reading frame [ORF], and nuclear Pax-C intron [PaxC]) could be useful for increasing the resolution of coral spat identification in ecological studies. One hundred and fifty settlement plates were emplaced at nine sites on the fringing reefs of Kenting National Park in southern Taiwan between April 2011 and September 2012. A total of 248 living coral spats and juveniles (with basal areas ranging from 0.21 to 134.57 mm(2)) were detected on the plates with the aid of fluorescent light and collected for molecular analyses. Using the COI DNA barcoding technique, 90.3% (224/248) of coral spats were successfully identified into six genera, including Acropora, Isopora, Montipora, Pocillopora, Porites, and Pavona. PaxC further separated I. cuneata and I. palifera of Isopora from Acropora, and ORF successfully identified the species of Pocillopora (except P. meandrina and P. eydouxi). Moreover, other cnidarian species such as actinarians, zoanthids, and Millepora species were visually found using fluorescence and identified by COI DNA barcoding. This combination of existing approaches greatly improved the taxonomic resolution of early coral life stages, which to date has been mainly limited to the family level based on skeletal identification. Overall, this study suggests important improvements for the identification of coral recruits in ecological studies.

Synthetic studies of the zoanthamine alkaloids: the total syntheses of norzoanthamine and zoanthamine.

PubMed

Yoshimura, Fumihiko; Sasaki, Minoru; Hattori, Izumi; Komatsu, Kei; Sakai, Mio; Tanino, Keiji; Miyashita, Masaaki

2009-07-06

The zoanthamine alkaloids, a type of heptacyclic marine alkaloid isolated from colonial zoanthids of the genus Zoanthus sp., have distinctive biological and pharmacological properties in addition to their unique chemical structures with stereochemical complexity. Namely, norzoanthamine (1) can suppress the loss of bone weight and strength in ovariectomized mice and has been expected as a promising candidate for a new type of antiosteoporotic drug, while zoanthamine (2) has exhibited potent inhibitory activity toward phorbol myristate-induced inflammation in addition to powerful analgesic effects. Recently, norzoanthamine derivatives were demonstrated to inhibit strongly the growth of P-388 murine leukemia cell lines, in addition to their potent antiplatelet activities on human platelet aggregation. Their distinctive biological properties, combined with novel chemical structures, make this family of alkaloids extremely attractive targets for chemical synthesis. However, the chemical synthesis of the zoanthamine alkaloids has been impeded owing to their densely functionalized complex stereostructures. In this paper, we report the first and highly efficient total syntheses of norzoanthamine (1) and zoanthamine (2) in full detail, which involve stereoselective synthesis of the requisite triene (18) for an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction via the sequential three-component coupling reactions, the key intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction, and subsequent crucial bis-aminoacetalization as the key steps. Ultimately, we achieved the total synthesis of norzoanthamine (1) in 41 steps with an overall yield of 3.5 % (an average of 92 % yield each step) and that of zoanthamine (2) in 43 steps with an overall yield of 2.2 % (an average of 91 % yield each step) starting from (R)-5-methylcyclohexenone (3), respectively.

The cytotoxic effect of palytoxin on Caco-2 cells hinders their use for in vitro absorption studies.

PubMed

Pelin, M; Sosa, S; Della Loggia, R; Poli, M; Tubaro, A; Decorti, G; Florio, C

2012-02-01

Palytoxin (PLTX), found in Palythoa zoanthids and Ostreopsis dinoflagellates, has also been detected in crabs and fish, through which it can enter into the food chain. Indeed, PLTX is considered the causative agent of several cases of human seafood poisoning resulting in systemic symptoms. Available epidemiological data on PLTX human toxicity suggest that the intestinal tract may be one of its in vivo targets and its potential site of access into the bloodstream. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the suitability of the human intestinal Caco-2 cell line for evaluating PLTX oral absorption. A detailed analysis of PLTX cytotoxicity revealed a high sensitivity of Caco-2 cells: 4h toxin exposure reduced mitochondrial activity (MTT assay, EC(50) of 8.9±3.7×10(-12)M), cell density (SRB assay, EC(50) of 2.0±0.6×10(-11)M) and membrane integrity (LDH release, EC(50) of 4.5±1.4×10(-9)M and PI uptake, EC(50) of 1.0±0.8×10(-8)M). After low PLTX concentration (1.0×10(-11)M) exposure for 1-8h, followed by 24h recovery time in toxin-free medium, cell density reduction was only partially reversible. These results indicate that, due to the high susceptibility to PLTX cytotoxic effects, Caco-2 cells do not represent an appropriate and reliable model for investigating intestinal barrier permeation by this toxin. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A new genus and species of isanthid sea anemone (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria) from Chilean Patagonia, Anthoparactis fossii n. gen. et sp

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Häussermann, Verena; Rodríguez, Estefanía

2014-09-01

We describe a new genus and species of sea anemone from Chilean Patagonia. Anthoparactis fossii n. gen. et sp. adds another acontiate genus and species to the family Isanthidae Carlgren, 1938. Anthoparactis n. gen. differs from the other isanthid genera in having the same number of mesenteries distally and proximally, acontia with basitrichs only, and a column with verrucae distally. Anthoparactis fossii n. sp. differs from the most similar species, Isoparactis fionae Lauretta et al., 2013, in the number of cycles of mesenteries and tentacles, structures of the column, colour pattern of the oral disc, cnidae, and geographical distribution. Isanthidae now includes seven genera and 11 species.

Comparative Molecular and Morphological Variation Analysis of Siderastrea (Anthozoa, Scleractinia) Reveals the Presence of Siderastrea stellata in the Gulf of Mexico.

PubMed

García, Norberto A Colín; Campos, Jorge E; Musi, José L Tello; Forsman, Zac H; Muñoz, Jorge L Montero; Reyes, Alejandro Monsalvo; González, Jesús E Arias

2017-02-01

The genus Siderastrea exhibits high levels of morphological variability. Some of its species share similar morphological characteristics with congeners, making their identification difficult. Siderastrea stellata has been reported as an intermediary of S. siderea and S. radians in the Brazilian reef ecosystem. In an earlier study conducted in Mexico, we detected Siderastrea colonies with morphological features that were not consistent with some siderastreid species previously reported in the Gulf of Mexico. Thus, we performed a combined morphological and molecular analysis to identify Siderastrea species boundaries from the Gulf of Mexico. Some colonies presented high morphologic variability, with characteristics that corresponded to Siderastrea stellata. Molecular analysis, using the nuclear ITS and ITS2 region, corroborated the morphological results, revealing low genetic variability between S. radians and S. stellata. Since the ITS sequences did not distinguish between Siderastrea species, we used the ITS2 region to differentiate S. stellata from S. radians. This is the first report of Siderastrea stellata and its variability in the Gulf of Mexico that is supported by morphological and molecular analyses.

Scleractinia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from INDEMARES 2010-2012 expeditions to the Avilés Canyon System (Bay of Biscay, Spain, northeast Atlantic)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altuna, Álvaro; Ríos, Pilar

2014-09-01

Twenty-eight species of scleractinian corals were collected between 55 and 2,291 m depth during INDEMARES 2010-2012 expeditions to the Avilés Canyon System and the near continental shelf (Bay of Biscay). Most interesting species are described and all depicted. All species were already known from the northeast Atlantic, although some are seldom reported. Deltocyathus eccentricus and Flabellum chunii are northernmost records in the eastern Atlantic, and species first collected from the Bay of Biscay. From a literature review and new records given herein, 31 species of Scleractinia are known from the Avilés Canyon System. Live specimens of six species were recorded outside their previously known bathymetric ranges in the Bay of Biscay and nearby areas, either at shallower depths ( Caryophyllia sarsiae, Monomyces pygmaea, Stephanocyathus nobilis), or deeper depths ( C. atlantica, C. sarsiae, Enallopsammia rostrata, Solenosmilia variabilis). Desmophyllum cristagalli has the widest bathymetric range (551-2,291 m), and Lophelia pertusa is the most widely distributed species (24 stations). Tabulating the number of live species occurring in each 100-m depth interval of the canyon system, highest species richness occurs in the 700-800-, 800-900-, and 1,400-1,500-m depth intervals (11 species). The habitat-forming species L. pertusa and Madrepora oculata were abundant in some stations building well-developed coral banks. Live colonies of the big-sized species S. variabilis and E. rostrata co-occurred at the deepest station sampled that yielded scleractinia (2,291 m).

Development of microsatellite markers as a molecular tool for conservation studies of the Mediterranean reef builder coral Cladocora caespitosa (Anthozoa, Scleractinia).

PubMed

Casado-Amezúa, Pilar; García-Jiménez, Ricardo; Kersting, Diego K; Templado, José; Coffroth, Mary Alice; Merino, Paula; Acevedo, Iván; Machordom, Annie

2011-01-01

Cladocora caespitosa is a reef-building zooxanthellate scleractinian coral in the Mediterranean Sea. Mortality events have recurrently affected this species during the last decade. Thus, knowledge of its genetic structure, population diversity, and connectivity is needed to accomplish suitable conservation plans. In order to obtain a better understanding of the population genetics of this species, 13 highly variable microsatellites markers were developed from a naturally bleached colony. The developed primers failed to amplify zooxanthella DNA, isolated from C. caespitosa, verifying that these markers were of the coral and not algal symbiont origin. The degree of polymorphism of these loci was tested on tissue samples from 28 colonies. The allele number for each loci ranged from 2 to 13 (mean N(a) = 5.4), with an average observed heterozygosity of 0.42 (H(e) = 0.43) and all loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These new markers should be useful in future conservation genetic studies and will help to improve the resolution of the individual identification within this coral species. Primers were also tested in Oculina patagonica, with successful amplifications of several loci.

Trends in the discovery of new marine natural products from invertebrates over the last two decades--where and what are we bioprospecting?

PubMed

Leal, Miguel Costa; Puga, João; Serôdio, João; Gomes, Newton C M; Calado, Ricardo

2012-01-01

It is acknowledged that marine invertebrates produce bioactive natural products that may be useful for developing new drugs. By exploring untapped geographical sources and/or novel groups of organisms one can maximize the search for new marine drugs to treat human diseases. The goal of this paper is to analyse the trends associated with the discovery of new marine natural products from invertebrates (NMNPI) over the last two decades. The analysis considers different taxonomical levels and geographical approaches of bioprospected species. Additionally, this research is also directed to provide new insights into less bioprospected taxa and world regions. In order to gather the information available on NMNPI, the yearly-published reviews of Marine Natural Products covering 1990-2009 were surveyed. Information on source organisms, specifically taxonomical information and collection sites, was assembled together with additional geographical information collected from the articles originally describing the new natural product. Almost 10000 NMNPI were discovered since 1990, with a pronounced increase between decades. Porifera and Cnidaria were the two dominant sources of NMNPI worldwide. The exception was polar regions where Echinodermata dominated. The majority of species that yielded the new natural products belong to only one class of each Porifera and Cnidaria phyla (Demospongiae and Anthozoa, respectively). Increased bioprospecting efforts were observed in the Pacific Ocean, particularly in Asian countries that are associated with the Japan Biodiversity Hotspot and the Kuroshio Current. Although results show comparably less NMNPI from polar regions, the number of new natural products per species is similar to that recorded for other regions. The present study provides information to future bioprospecting efforts addressing previously unexplored taxonomic groups and/or regions. We also highlight how marine invertebrates, which in some cases have no commercial value

Trends in the Discovery of New Marine Natural Products from Invertebrates over the Last Two Decades – Where and What Are We Bioprospecting?

PubMed Central

Leal, Miguel Costa; Puga, João; Serôdio, João; Gomes, Newton C. M.; Calado, Ricardo

2012-01-01

It is acknowledged that marine invertebrates produce bioactive natural products that may be useful for developing new drugs. By exploring untapped geographical sources and/or novel groups of organisms one can maximize the search for new marine drugs to treat human diseases. The goal of this paper is to analyse the trends associated with the discovery of new marine natural products from invertebrates (NMNPI) over the last two decades. The analysis considers different taxonomical levels and geographical approaches of bioprospected species. Additionally, this research is also directed to provide new insights into less bioprospected taxa and world regions. In order to gather the information available on NMNPI, the yearly-published reviews of Marine Natural Products covering 1990–2009 were surveyed. Information on source organisms, specifically taxonomical information and collection sites, was assembled together with additional geographical information collected from the articles originally describing the new natural product. Almost 10000 NMNPI were discovered since 1990, with a pronounced increase between decades. Porifera and Cnidaria were the two dominant sources of NMNPI worldwide. The exception was polar regions where Echinodermata dominated. The majority of species that yielded the new natural products belong to only one class of each Porifera and Cnidaria phyla (Demospongiae and Anthozoa, respectively). Increased bioprospecting efforts were observed in the Pacific Ocean, particularly in Asian countries that are associated with the Japan Biodiversity Hotspot and the Kuroshio Current. Although results show comparably less NMNPI from polar regions, the number of new natural products per species is similar to that recorded for other regions. The present study provides information to future bioprospecting efforts addressing previously unexplored taxonomic groups and/or regions. We also highlight how marine invertebrates, which in some cases have no commercial value

Cellular Responses in Sea Fan Corals: Granular Amoebocytes React to Pathogen and Climate Stressors

PubMed Central

Mydlarz, Laura D.; Holthouse, Sally F.; Peters, Esther C.; Harvell, C. Drew

2008-01-01

Background Climate warming is causing environmental change making both marine and terrestrial organisms, and even humans, more susceptible to emerging diseases. Coral reefs are among the most impacted ecosystems by climate stress, and immunity of corals, the most ancient of metazoans, is poorly known. Although coral mortality due to infectious diseases and temperature-related stress is on the rise, the immune effector mechanisms that contribute to the resistance of corals to such events remain elusive. In the Caribbean sea fan corals (Anthozoa, Alcyonacea: Gorgoniidae), the cell-based immune defenses are granular acidophilic amoebocytes, which are known to be involved in wound repair and histocompatibility. Methodology/Principal Findings We demonstrate for the first time in corals that these cells are involved in the organismal response to pathogenic and temperature stress. In sea fans with both naturally occurring infections and experimental inoculations with the fungal pathogen Aspergillus sydowii, an inflammatory response, characterized by a massive increase of amoebocytes, was evident near infections. Melanosomes were detected in amoebocytes adjacent to protective melanin bands in infected sea fans; neither was present in uninfected fans. In naturally infected sea fans a concurrent increase in prophenoloxidase activity was detected in infected tissues with dense amoebocytes. Sea fans sampled in the field during the 2005 Caribbean Bleaching Event (a once-in-hundred-year climate event) responded to heat stress with a systemic increase in amoebocytes and amoebocyte densities were also increased by elevated temperature stress in lab experiments. Conclusions/Significance The observed amoebocyte responses indicate that sea fan corals use cellular defenses to combat fungal infection and temperature stress. The ability to mount an inflammatory response may be a contributing factor that allowed the survival of even infected sea fan corals during a stressful climate

Mitochondrial genome of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbyi and phylogenetics of Medusozoa.

PubMed

Zou, Hong; Zhang, Jin; Li, Wenxiang; Wu, Shangong; Wang, Guitang

2012-01-01

The 17,922 base pairs (bp) nucleotide sequence of the linear mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbyi (Hydrozoa, Trachylina, Limnomedusae) has been determined. This sequence exhibits surprisingly low A+T content (57.1%), containing genes for 13 energy pathway proteins, a small and a large subunit rRNAs, and methionine and tryptophan tRNAs. Mitochondrial ancestral medusozoan gene order (AMGO) was found in the C. sowerbyi, as those found in Cubaia aphrodite (Hydrozoa, Trachylina, Limnomedusae), discomedusan Scyphozoa and Staurozoa. The genes of C. sowerbyi mtDNA are arranged in two clusters with opposite transcriptional polarities, whereby transcription proceeds toward the ends of the DNA molecule. Identical inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) flank the ends of the mitochondrial DNA molecule, a characteristic typical of medusozoans. In addition, two open reading frames (ORFs) of 354 and 1611 bp in length were found downstream of the large subunit rRNA gene, similar to the two ORFs of ORF314 and polB discovered in the linear mtDNA of C. aphrodite, discomedusan Scyphozoa and Staurozoa. Phylogenetic analyses of C. sowerbyi and other cnidarians were carried out based on both nucleotide and inferred amino acid sequences of the 13 mitochondrial energy pathway genes. Our working hypothesis supports the monophyletic Medusozoa being a sister group to Octocorallia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). Within Medusozoa, the phylogenetic analysis suggests that Staurozoa may be the earliest diverging class and the sister group of all other medusozoans. Cubozoa and coronate Scyphozoa form a clade that is the sister group of Hydrozoa plus discomedusan Scyphozoa. Hydrozoa is the sister group of discomedusan Scyphozoa. Semaeostomeae is a paraphyletic clade with Rhizostomeae, while Limnomedusae (Trachylina) is the sister group of hydroidolinans and may be the earliest diverging lineage among Hydrozoa.

Mitochondrial Genome of the Freshwater Jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbyi and Phylogenetics of Medusozoa

PubMed Central

Zou, Hong; Zhang, Jin; Li, Wenxiang; Wu, Shangong; Wang, Guitang

2012-01-01

The 17,922 base pairs (bp) nucleotide sequence of the linear mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbyi (Hydrozoa,Trachylina, Limnomedusae) has been determined. This sequence exhibits surprisingly low A+T content (57.1%), containing genes for 13 energy pathway proteins, a small and a large subunit rRNAs, and methionine and tryptophan tRNAs. Mitochondrial ancestral medusozoan gene order (AMGO) was found in the C. sowerbyi, as those found in Cubaia aphrodite (Hydrozoa, Trachylina, Limnomedusae), discomedusan Scyphozoa and Staurozoa. The genes of C. sowerbyi mtDNA are arranged in two clusters with opposite transcriptional polarities, whereby transcription proceeds toward the ends of the DNA molecule. Identical inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) flank the ends of the mitochondrial DNA molecule, a characteristic typical of medusozoans. In addition, two open reading frames (ORFs) of 354 and 1611 bp in length were found downstream of the large subunit rRNA gene, similar to the two ORFs of ORF314 and polB discovered in the linear mtDNA of C. aphrodite, discomedusan Scyphozoa and Staurozoa. Phylogenetic analyses of C. sowerbyi and other cnidarians were carried out based on both nucleotide and inferred amino acid sequences of the 13 mitochondrial energy pathway genes. Our working hypothesis supports the monophyletic Medusozoa being a sister group to Octocorallia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). Within Medusozoa, the phylogenetic analysis suggests that Staurozoa may be the earliest diverging class and the sister group of all other medusozoans. Cubozoa and coronate Scyphozoa form a clade that is the sister group of Hydrozoa plus discomedusan Scyphozoa. Hydrozoa is the sister group of discomedusan Scyphozoa. Semaeostomeae is a paraphyletic clade with Rhizostomeae, while Limnomedusae (Trachylina) is the sister group of hydroidolinans and may be the earliest diverging lineage among Hydrozoa. PMID:23240028

Molecular cloning and characterization of a steroidogenic enzyme, 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 14, from the stony coral Euphyllia ancora (Cnidaria, Anthozoa).

PubMed

Shikina, Shinya; Chung, Yi-Jou; Chiu, Yi-Ling; Huang, Yi-Jie; Lee, Yan-Horn; Chang, Ching-Fong

2016-03-01

Sex steroids play a fundamental role not only in reproduction but also in various other biological processes in vertebrates. Although the presence of sex steroids has been confirmed in cnidarians (e.g., coral, sea anemone, jellyfish, and hydra), which are basal metazoans, only a few studies to date have characterized steroidogenesis-related genes in cnidarians. Based on a transcriptomic analysis of the stony coral Euphyllia ancora, we identified the steroidogenic enzyme 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 14 (17beta-hsd 14), an oxidative enzyme that catalyzes the NAD(+)-dependent inactivation of estrogen/androgen (estradiol to estrone and testosterone to androstenedione) in mammals. Phylogenetic analysis showed that E. ancora 17beta-Hsd 14 (Ea17beta-Hsd 14) clusters with other animal 17beta-HSD 14s but not with other members of the 17beta-HSD family. Subsequent quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed a lack of correlation of Ea17beta-hsd 14 transcript levels with the coral's reproductive cycle. In addition, Ea17beta-hsd 14 transcript and protein were detected in all tissues examined, such as the tentacles, mesenterial filaments, and gonads, at similar levels in both sexes, as determined by quantitative RT-PCR analysis and Western blotting with an anti-Ea17beta-Hsd 14 antibody. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that Ea17beta-Hsd 14 is mainly distributed in the endodermal regions of the polyps, but the protein was also observed in all tissues examined. These results suggest that Ea17beta-Hsd 14 is involved in important functions that commonly occur in endodermal cells or has multiple functions in different tissues. Our data provide information for comparison with advanced animals as well as insight into the evolution of steroidogenesis-related genes in metazoans. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A second, cryptic species of the soft coral genus Incrustatus (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Clavulariidae) from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, revealed by DNA barcoding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McFadden, Catherine S.; van Ofwegen, Leen P.

2013-03-01

The encrusting soft coral Incrustatus comauensis is a common denizen of hard substrates in the shallow sub-tidal zone from the central Chilean fjords to the Cape Horn region of southern South America. DNA barcoding of specimens collected from the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, revealed the presence of a second, cryptic species of Incrustatus that is syntopic with I. comauensis. We describe Incrustatus niarchosi, a new species that can be distinguished morphologically from I. comauensis by differences in the microscopic ornamentation of the coenenchymal sclerites. To date, I. niarchosi n. sp. is known only from the Beagle Channel. A population of I. comauensis discovered in the intertidal zone in eastern Tierra del Fuego represents a new record of the species for that habitat and geographic region. Although the intertidal population is also distinct genetically, it is morphologically indistinguishable from sub-tidal Chilean populations of I. comauensis, and at present, there is insufficient evidence to support its status as a separate species.

Consequences of ecological, evolutionary and biogeochemical uncertainty for coral reef responses to climatic stress.

PubMed

Mumby, Peter J; van Woesik, Robert

2014-05-19

Coral reefs are highly sensitive to the stress associated with greenhouse gas emissions, in particular ocean warming and acidification. While experiments show negative responses of most reef organisms to ocean warming, some autotrophs benefit from ocean acidification. Yet, we are uncertain of the response of coral reefs as systems. We begin by reviewing sources of uncertainty and complexity including the translation of physiological effects into demographic processes, indirect ecological interactions among species, the ability of coral reefs to modify their own chemistry, adaptation and trans-generational plasticity. We then incorporate these uncertainties into two simple qualitative models of a coral reef system under climate change. Some sources of uncertainty are far more problematic than others. Climate change is predicted to have an unambiguous negative effect on corals that is robust to several sources of uncertainty but sensitive to the degree of biogeochemical coupling between benthos and seawater. Macroalgal, zoanthid, and herbivorous fish populations are generally predicted to increase, but the ambiguity (confidence) of such predictions are sensitive to the source of uncertainty. For example, reversing the effect of climate-related stress on macroalgae from being positive to negative had no influence on system behaviour. By contrast, the system was highly sensitive to a change in the stress upon herbivorous fishes. Minor changes in competitive interactions had profound impacts on system behaviour, implying that the outcomes of mesocosm studies could be highly sensitive to the choice of taxa. We use our analysis to identify new hypotheses and suggest that the effects of climatic stress on coral reefs provide an exceptional opportunity to test emerging theories of ecological inheritance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction of relationships in Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from the Atlantic ocean using mtMutS and nad2 genes tree reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morris, K. J.; Herrera, S.; Gubili, C.; Tyler, P. A.; Rogers, A.; Hauton, C.

2012-12-01

Despite being an abundant group of significant ecological importance the phylogenetic relationships of the Octocorallia remain poorly understood and very much understudied. We used 1132 bp of two mitochondrial protein-coding genes, nad2 and mtMutS (previously referred to as msh1), to construct a phylogeny for 161 octocoral specimens from the Atlantic, including both Isididae and non-Isididae species. We found that four clades were supported using a concatenated alignment. Two of these (A and B) were in general agreement with the of Holaxonia-Alcyoniina and Anthomastus-Corallium clades identified by previous work. The third and fourth clades represent a split of the Calcaxonia-Pennatulacea clade resulting in a clade containing the Pennatulacea and a small number of Isididae specimens and a second clade containing the remaining Calcaxonia. When individual genes were considered nad2 largely agreed with previous work with MtMutS also producing a fourth clade corresponding to a split of Isididae species from the Calcaxonia-Pennatulacea clade. It is expected these difference are a consequence of the inclusion of Isisdae species that have undergone a gene inversion in the mtMutS gene causing their separation in the MtMutS only tree. The fourth clade in the concatenated tree is also suspected to be a result of this gene inversion, as there were very few Isidiae species included in previous work tree and thus this separation would not be clearly resolved. A~larger phylogeny including both Isididae and non Isididae species is required to further resolve these clades.

Bleaching of reef coelenterates in the San Blas Islands, Panama

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lasker, Howard R.; Peters, Esther C.; Coffroth, Mary Alice

1984-12-01

Starting in June 1983, 25 species of hermatypic corals, gorgonians, hydrocorals, anemones and zoanthids in the San Blas Islands, Panama, began showing signs of a loss of colour leading in some cases to a white “bleached” appearance. Histologic examination of six coral species indicated that bleaching was associated with drastic reductions in the density of zooxanthellae and with the atrophy and necrosis of the animal tissue. The severity of the bleaching varied among species and many species were unaffected. The species most extensively affected were: Agaricia spp., which became completely bleached and frequently died; Montastraea annularis which bleached and continued to survive; and Millepora spp. which bleached white but quickly regained their colouration. Shallow reefs dominated by Agaricia spp. suffered the most extensive bleaching. At one site, Pico Feo, 99% of the Agaricia (32% of the living cover) was bleached. On fore reers, which were dominated by Agaricia spp. and M. annularis, the proportion of M. annularis bleached ranged from 18 to 100% and that of Agaricia spp. from 30 to 53%. Transects at Sail Rock and House Reef were surveyed in August 1983 and January 1984. At those sites, 53% of the Agaricia cover died between August and January. The remaining living cover of Agaricia and of all other species exhibited normal colouration in January. Salinity and temperature were monitored every second day at 4 m depth between May 10 and August 28, 1983 at one of the localities. Bleaching was first observed within two weeks of a 2 °C rise in temperature which occurred in late May 1983. Temperatures remained at or above 31.5 °C for the following 3 weeks and were at or above 30 °C for an additional 4 weeks. The bleaching of corals in the San Blas was most likely due to those elevanted temperatures.

Susceptibility to antifungal agents and enzymatic activity of Candida haemulonii and Cutaneotrichosporon dermatis isolated from soft corals on the Brazilian reefs.

PubMed

Pagani, Danielle M; Heidrich, Daiane; Paulino, Gustavo V B; de Oliveira Alves, Karine; Dalbem, Paula T; de Oliveira, Caroline F; Andrade, Zélia M M; Silva, Carolini; Correia, Monica D; Scroferneker, Maria Lúcia; Valente, Patricia; Landell, Melissa Fontes

2016-12-01

Candida is a common fungus with the capacity to cause infections in humans. However, most studies have concentrated on clinical isolates and little is known about the identity, ecology and drug resistance of free living species/strains. Here, we isolate eight strains of Candida haemulonii and four strains of Cutaneotrichosporon dermatis from three marine cnidarian zoanthids species (Palythoa caribaeorum, Palythoa variabilis and Zoanthus sociatus) collected from Brazilian coral reefs. Strains were identified by sequencing of the D1/D2 domain LSU rDNA and ITS region. We tested these environmental isolates for their capacity to grow in media with increasing concentration of NaCl, capacity to grow in different temperatures, enzymatic activity and antifungal susceptibility. For C. haemulonii, all strains strongly produced gelatinase, esterase and albuminase and were either able to express lipase, phospholipase and keratinase, but not express urease and DNase. The strains were able to grow at 37 °C, but not at 39 °C, and except for LMS 40, all of them could grow in a 10 % NaCl medium. All isolates were resistant to all antifungals tested, with exception for ketoconazole and tioconazole (MIC = 2 µg/mL). For C. dermatis, all strains could grow at 39 °C and could not express phospholipase, keratinase or gelatinase. However, all were capable of expressing urease, lipase and esterase. Three out of four strains could grow in a 10 % NaCl medium, but none grew in a 30 % NaCl medium. The strains showed high values of minimal inhibitory concentration. LMPV 90 was resistant to tioconazole, terbinafine, fluconazole and posaconazole, and LMS 38 was resistant to all antifungal agents tested. We discuss the characterization of C. haemulonii and C. dermatis as a possible emerging pathogen due to its animal-related enzymatic arsenal and antifungal resistance.

Impact of Submarine Groundwater Discharge on Marine Water Quality and Reef Biota of Maui

PubMed Central

Bishop, James M.

2016-01-01

Generally unseen and infrequently measured, submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) can transport potentially large loads of nutrients and other land-based contaminants to coastal ecosystems. To examine this linkage we employed algal bioassays, benthic community analysis, and geochemical methods to examine water quality and community parameters of nearshore reefs adjacent to a variety of potential, land-based nutrient sources on Maui. Three common reef algae, Acanthophora spicifera, Hypnea musciformis, and Ulva spp. were collected and/or deployed at six locations with SGD. Algal tissue nitrogen (N) parameters (δ15N, N %, and C:N) were compared with nutrient and δ15N-nitrate values of coastal groundwater and nearshore surface water at all locations. Benthic community composition was estimated for ten 10-m transects per location. Reefs adjacent to sugarcane farms had the greatest abundance of macroalgae, low species diversity, and the highest concentrations of N in algal tissues, coastal groundwater, and marine surface waters compared to locations with low anthropogenic impact. Based on δ15N values of algal tissues, we estimate ca. 0.31 km2 of Kahului Bay is impacted by effluent injected underground at the Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WRF); this region is barren of corals and almost entirely dominated by colonial zoanthids. Significant correlations among parameters of algal tissue N with adjacent surface and coastal groundwater N indicate that these bioassays provided a useful measure of nutrient source and loading. A conceptual model that uses Ulva spp. tissue δ15N and N % to identify potential N source(s) and relative N loading is proposed for Hawaiʻi. These results indicate that SGD can be a significant transport pathway for land-based nutrients with important biogeochemical and ecological implications in tropical, oceanic islands. PMID:27812171

Diversity and ecological structure of vibrios in benthic and pelagic habitats along a latitudinal gradient in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean.

PubMed

Chimetto Tonon, Luciane A; Silva, Bruno Sergio de O; Moreira, Ana Paula B; Valle, Cecilia; Alves, Nelson; Cavalcanti, Giselle; Garcia, Gizele; Lopes, Rubens M; Francini-Filho, Ronaldo B; de Moura, Rodrigo L; Thompson, Cristiane C; Thompson, Fabiano L

2015-01-01

We analyzed the diversity and population structure of the 775 Vibrio isolates from different locations of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean (SAO), including St. Peter and St. Paul Archipelago (SPSPA), Abrolhos Bank (AB) and the St. Sebastian region (SS), between 2005 and 2010. In this study, 195 novel isolates, obtained from seawater and major benthic organisms (rhodoliths and corals), were compared with a collection of 580 isolates previously characterized (available at www.taxvibrio.lncc.br). The isolates were distributed in 8 major habitat spectra according to AdaptML analysis on the basis of pyrH phylogenetic reconstruction and ecological information, such as isolation source (i.e., corals: Madracis decactis, Mussismilia braziliensis, M. hispida, Phyllogorgia dilatata, Scolymia wellsi; zoanthids: Palythoa caribaeorum, P. variabilis and Zoanthus solanderi; fireworm: Hermodice carunculata; rhodolith; water and sediment) and sampling site regions (SPSPA, AB and SS). Ecologically distinct groups were discerned through AdaptML, which finds phylogenetic groups that are significantly different in their spectra of habitat preferences. Some habitat spectra suggested ecological specialization, with habitat spectra 2, 3, and 4 corresponding to specialization on SPSPA, AB, and SS, respectively. This match between habitat and location may reflect a minor exchange of Vibrio populations between geographically isolated benthic systems. Moreover, we found several widespread Vibrio species predominantly from water column, and different populations of a single Vibrio species from H. carunculata in ecologically distinct groups (H-1 and H-8 respectively). On the other hand, AdaptML detected phylogenetic groups that are found in both the benthos and in open water. The ecological grouping observed suggests dispersal and connectivity between the benthic and pelagic systems in AB. This study is a first attempt to characterize the biogeographic distribution of vibrios in both seawater and

Impact of Submarine Groundwater Discharge on Marine Water Quality and Reef Biota of Maui.

PubMed

Amato, Daniel W; Bishop, James M; Glenn, Craig R; Dulai, Henrietta; Smith, Celia M

2016-01-01

Generally unseen and infrequently measured, submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) can transport potentially large loads of nutrients and other land-based contaminants to coastal ecosystems. To examine this linkage we employed algal bioassays, benthic community analysis, and geochemical methods to examine water quality and community parameters of nearshore reefs adjacent to a variety of potential, land-based nutrient sources on Maui. Three common reef algae, Acanthophora spicifera, Hypnea musciformis, and Ulva spp. were collected and/or deployed at six locations with SGD. Algal tissue nitrogen (N) parameters (δ15N, N %, and C:N) were compared with nutrient and δ15N-nitrate values of coastal groundwater and nearshore surface water at all locations. Benthic community composition was estimated for ten 10-m transects per location. Reefs adjacent to sugarcane farms had the greatest abundance of macroalgae, low species diversity, and the highest concentrations of N in algal tissues, coastal groundwater, and marine surface waters compared to locations with low anthropogenic impact. Based on δ15N values of algal tissues, we estimate ca. 0.31 km2 of Kahului Bay is impacted by effluent injected underground at the Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WRF); this region is barren of corals and almost entirely dominated by colonial zoanthids. Significant correlations among parameters of algal tissue N with adjacent surface and coastal groundwater N indicate that these bioassays provided a useful measure of nutrient source and loading. A conceptual model that uses Ulva spp. tissue δ15N and N % to identify potential N source(s) and relative N loading is proposed for Hawai'i. These results indicate that SGD can be a significant transport pathway for land-based nutrients with important biogeochemical and ecological implications in tropical, oceanic islands.

Diversity and ecological structure of vibrios in benthic and pelagic habitats along a latitudinal gradient in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean

PubMed Central

Silva, Bruno Sergio de O.; Moreira, Ana Paula B.; Valle, Cecilia; Alves, Nelson; Cavalcanti, Giselle; Garcia, Gizele; Lopes, Rubens M.; Francini-Filho, Ronaldo B.; de Moura, Rodrigo L.; Thompson, Cristiane C.

2015-01-01

We analyzed the diversity and population structure of the 775 Vibrio isolates from different locations of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean (SAO), including St. Peter and St. Paul Archipelago (SPSPA), Abrolhos Bank (AB) and the St. Sebastian region (SS), between 2005 and 2010. In this study, 195 novel isolates, obtained from seawater and major benthic organisms (rhodoliths and corals), were compared with a collection of 580 isolates previously characterized (available at www.taxvibrio.lncc.br). The isolates were distributed in 8 major habitat spectra according to AdaptML analysis on the basis of pyrH phylogenetic reconstruction and ecological information, such as isolation source (i.e., corals: Madracis decactis, Mussismilia braziliensis, M. hispida, Phyllogorgia dilatata, Scolymia wellsi; zoanthids: Palythoa caribaeorum, P. variabilis and Zoanthus solanderi; fireworm: Hermodice carunculata; rhodolith; water and sediment) and sampling site regions (SPSPA, AB and SS). Ecologically distinct groups were discerned through AdaptML, which finds phylogenetic groups that are significantly different in their spectra of habitat preferences. Some habitat spectra suggested ecological specialization, with habitat spectra 2, 3, and 4 corresponding to specialization on SPSPA, AB, and SS, respectively. This match between habitat and location may reflect a minor exchange of Vibrio populations between geographically isolated benthic systems. Moreover, we found several widespread Vibrio species predominantly from water column, and different populations of a single Vibrio species from H. carunculata in ecologically distinct groups (H-1 and H-8 respectively). On the other hand, AdaptML detected phylogenetic groups that are found in both the benthos and in open water. The ecological grouping observed suggests dispersal and connectivity between the benthic and pelagic systems in AB. This study is a first attempt to characterize the biogeographic distribution of vibrios in both seawater and

Please mind the gap - Visual census and cryptic biodiversity assessment at central Red Sea coral reefs.

PubMed

Pearman, John K; Anlauf, Holger; Irigoien, Xabier; Carvalho, Susana

2016-07-01

Coral reefs harbor the most diverse assemblages in the ocean, however, a large proportion of the diversity is cryptic and, therefore, undetected by standard visual census techniques. Cryptic and exposed communities differ considerably in species composition and ecological function. This study compares three different coral reef assessment protocols: i) visual benthic reef surveys: ii) visual census of Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) plates; and iii) metabarcoding techniques of the ARMS (including sessile, 106-500 μm and 500-2000 μm size fractions), that target the cryptic and exposed communities of three reefs in the central Red Sea. Visual census showed a dominance of Cnidaria (Anthozoa) and Rhodophyta on the reef substrate, while Porifera, Bryozoa and Rhodophyta were the most abundant groups on the ARMS plates. Metabarcoding, targeting the 18S rRNA gene, significantly increased estimates of the species diversity (p < 0.001); revealing that Annelida were generally the dominant phyla (in terms of reads) of all fractions and reefs. Furthermore, metabarcoding detected microbial eukaryotic groups such as Syndiniophyceae, Mamiellophyceae and Bacillariophyceae as relevant components of the sessile fraction. ANOSIM analysis showed that the three reef sites showed no differences based on the visual census data. Metabarcoding showed a higher sensitivity for identifying differences between reef communities at smaller geographic scales than standard visual census techniques as significant differences in the assemblages were observed amongst the reefs. Comparison of the techniques showed no similar patterns for the visual techniques while the metabarcoding of the ARMS showed similar patterns amongst fractions. Establishing ARMS as a standard tool in reef monitoring will not only advance our understanding of local processes and ecological community response to environmental changes, as different faunal components will provide complementary information but

Microbiome Composition and Diversity of the Ice-Dwelling Sea Anemone, Edwardsiella andrillae.

PubMed

Murray, Alison E; Rack, Frank R; Zook, Robert; Williams, Michael J M; Higham, Mary L; Broe, Michael; Kaufmann, Ronald S; Daly, Marymegan

2016-10-01

Edwardsiella andrillae is a sea anemone (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria) only known to live embedded in the ice at the seawater interface on the underside of the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Although the anatomy and morphological characteristics of E. andrillae have been described, the adaptations of this species to the under-ice ecosystem have yet to be examined. One feature that may be important to the physiology and ecology of E. andrillae is its microbiome, which may play a role in health and survival, as has been deduced in other metazoans, including anthozoans. Here we describe the microbiome of five specimens of E. andrillae, compare the diversity we recovered to that known for temperate anemones and another Antarctic cnidarian, and consider the phylogenetic and functional implications of microbial diversity for these animals. The E. andrillae microbiome was relatively low in diversity, with seven phyla detected, yet included substantial phylogenetic novelty. Among the five anemones investigated, the distribution of microbial taxa varied; this trait appears to be shared by many anthozoans. Most importantly, specimens either appeared to be dominated by Proteobacteria-affiliated members or by deeply branching Tenericute sequences. There were few closely related sequence types that were common to temperate and Antarctic sea anemone microbiomes, the exception being an Acinetobacter-related representative. Similar observations were made between microbes associated with E. andrillae and an Antarctic soft coral; however, there were several closely-related, low abundance Gammaproteobacteria in both Antarctic microbiomes, particularly from the soft coral, that are also commonly detected in Southern Ocean seawater. Although this preliminary study leaves open many questions concerning microbiome diversity and its role in host ecology, we identify major lineages of microbes (e.g., diverse deep-branching Alphaproteobacteria, Epsilonproteobacteria, and divergent

A comparative view of early development in the corals Favia lizardensis, Ctenactis echinata, and Acropora millepora - morphology, transcriptome, and developmental gene expression.

PubMed

Okubo, Nami; Hayward, David C; Forêt, Sylvain; Ball, Eldon E

2016-02-29

forkhead was investigated, allowing comparison to that of their orthologs in Acropora, Nematostella and bilaterians and demonstrating that even within the Anthozoa there are significant differences in expression patterns.

First Detailed Record of Symbiosis Between a Sea Anemone and Homoscleromorph Sponge, With a Description of Tempuractis rinkai gen. et sp. nov. (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria: Edwardsiidae).

PubMed

Izumi, Takato; Ise, Yuji; Yanagi, Kensuke; Shibata, Daisuke; Ueshima, Rei

2018-04-01

A new species in a new genus of sea anemone, Tempuractis rinkai gen. et sp. nov., was discovered at several localities along the temperate rocky shores of Japan. The new species is approximately 4 mm in length and has been assigned to family Edwardsiidae, because it has eight macrocnemes, lacks sphincter and basal muscles, and possesses rounded aboral end. The sea anemone, however, also has a peculiar body shape unlike that of any other known taxa. This new species resembles some genera, especially Drillactis and Nematostella, in smooth column surface without nemathybomes or tenaculi, but is distinguishable from them by several morphological features: the presence of holotrichs and absence of nematosomes. Furthermore, this edwardsiid species exhibits a peculiar symbiotic ecology with sponges. Therefore, a new genus, Tempuractis, is proposed for this species. In the field, T. rinkai sp. nov. was always found living inside homosclerophorid sponge of the genus Oscarella, which suggests a possible obligate symbiosis between Porifera and Actiniaria. The benefit of this symbiosis is discussed on the basis of observations of live specimens, both in the aquarium and field. This is the first report of symbiosis between a sea anemone and a homoscleromorph sponge.

Megabenthic assemblages at the Hudson Canyon head (NW Atlantic margin): Habitat-faunal relationships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pierdomenico, Martina; Gori, Andrea; Guida, Vincent G.; Gili, Josep-Maria

2017-09-01

The distribution of megabenthic communities at the head of Hudson Canyon and adjacent continental shelf was studied by means of underwater video transects and still photo imagery collected using a towed camera system. The goal was to explore the relationships between faunal distribution and physical seafloor conditions and to test the hypothesis that increased seafloor heterogeneity in the Hudson Canyon supports a larger diversity of benthic communities, compared with the adjacent continental shelf. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to identify benthic assemblages as defined in imagery. The BIO-ENV procedure and the Canonical Correspondence Analysis were carried out to elucidate species groupings in relation to terrain variables extracted from bathymetric data. Species accumulation curves were generated to evaluate species turn over in and out of Hudson Canyon. The results indicate that seafloor morphology is the main physical factor related to benthic community composition and distribution. Assemblages dominated by sponges, zoanthids and cup corals colonized the canyon margins and flanks, and were associated with coarse-grained sediments, while sea pen assemblages were observed along muddy seafloor within the thalweg. An assemblage dominated by sea stars occurred on the shelf, associated with a sandy seafloor. Some assemblages were exclusively observed in the canyon area, suggesting that the increased variability of seafloor composition, together with the oceanographic processes specific to the canyon area, enhance beta diversity. The colonization by benthic suspension feeders within the canyon, in contrast to shelf assemblages, mainly composed of carnivores and detritus feeders could be favored the intense hydrodynamics at the canyon head that increase the availability of suspended organic matter. From the perspective of management and conservation of marine resources, the results obtained support the relevance of Hudson Canyon as a biodiversity hotspot

Detection of palytoxin-like compounds by a flow cytometry-based immunoassay supported by functional and analytical methods.

PubMed

Fraga, María; Vilariño, Natalia; Louzao, M Carmen; Fernández, Diego A; Poli, Mark; Botana, Luis M

2016-01-15

Palytoxin (PLTX) is a complex marine toxin produced by zoanthids (i.e. Palythoa), dinoflagellates (Ostreopsis) and cyanobacteria (Trichodesmium). PLTX outbreaks are usually associated with Indo-Pacific waters, however their recent repeated occurrence in Mediterranean-European Atlantic coasts demonstrate their current worldwide distribution. Human sickness and fatalities have been associated with toxic algal blooms and ingestion of seafood contaminated with PLTX-like molecules. These toxins represent a serious threat to human health. There is an immediate need to develop easy-to-use, rapid detection methods due to the lack of validated protocols for their detection and quantification. We have developed an immuno-detection method for PLTX-like molecules based on the use of microspheres coupled to flow-cytometry detection (Luminex 200™). The assay consisted of the competition between free PLTX-like compounds in solution and PLTX immobilized on the surface of microspheres for binding to a specific monoclonal anti-PLTX antibody. This method displays an IC50 of 1.83 ± 0.21 nM and a dynamic range of 0.47-6.54 nM for PLTX. An easy-to-perform extraction protocol, based on a mixture of methanol and acetate buffer, was applied to spiked mussel samples providing a recovery rate of 104 ± 8% and a range of detection from 374 ± 81 to 4430 ± 150 μg kg(-1) when assayed with this method. Extracts of Ostreopsis cf. siamensis and Palythoa tuberculosa were tested and yielded positive results for PLTX-like molecules. However, the data obtained for the coral sample suggested that this antibody did not detect 42-OH-PLTX efficiently. The same samples were further analyzed using a neuroblastoma cytotoxicity assay and UPLC-IT-TOF spectrometry, which also pointed to the presence of PLTX-like compounds. Therefore, this single detection method for PLTX provides a semi-quantitative tool useful for the screening of PLTX-like molecules in different matrixes. Copyright © 2015

Development and epithelial organisation of muscle cells in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis.

PubMed

Jahnel, Stefan M; Walzl, Manfred; Technau, Ulrich

2014-01-01

Nematostella vectensis, a member of the cnidarian class Anthozoa, has been established as a promising model system in developmental biology, but while information about the genetic regulation of embryonic development is rapidly increasing, little is known about the cellular organization of the various cell types in the adult. Here, we studied the anatomy and development of the muscular system of N. vectensis to obtain further insights into the evolution of muscle cells. The muscular system of N. vectensis is comprised of five distinct muscle groups, which are differentiated into a tentacle and a body column system. Both systems house longitudinal as well as circular portions. With the exception of the ectodermal tentacle longitudinal muscle, all muscle groups are of endodermal origin. The shape and epithelial organization of muscle cells vary considerably between different muscle groups. Ring muscle cells are formed as epitheliomuscular cells in which the myofilaments are housed in the basal part of the cell, while the apical part is connected to neighboring cells by apical cell-cell junctions. In the longitudinal muscles of the column, the muscular part at the basal side is connected to the apical part by a long and narrow cytoplasmic bridge. The organization of these cells, however, remains epitheliomuscular. A third type of muscle cell is represented in the longitudinal muscle of the tentacle. Using transgenic animals we show that the apical cell-cell junctions are lost during differentiation, resulting in a detachment of the muscle cells to a basiepithelial position. These muscle cells are still located within the epithelium and outside of the basal matrix, therefore constituting basiepithelial myocytes. We demonstrate that all muscle cells, including the longitudinal basiepithelial muscle cells of the tentacle, initially differentiate from regular epithelial cells before they alter their epithelial organisation. A wide range of different muscle cell

Soft coral abundance on the central Great Barrier Reef: effects of Acanthaster planci, space availability, and aspects of the physical environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fabricius, K. E.

1997-07-01

The distribution and abundance of soft coral genera on reefs of the central Great Barrier Reef was investigated in relation to reef position, recent history of disturbance, wave exposure, substratum slope and depth. Eighty-five 25 m long transects were surveyed at 10 m depth on windward sides of 14 mid- and outer-shelf reefs. A further 75 transects in different zones on one mid-shelf reef (Davies Reef) between 5 and 30 m depth were investigated. The crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci had caused large-scale mortality of scleractinians on eight of these reefs five to ten years prior to the study, and as a result, scleractinian cover was only 35-55% of that on the six unimpacted reefs. On the impacted reefs, stony corals with massive and encrusting growths form had smaller average colony diameters but similar or slightly lower numerical abundance. In contrast, mean colony size, cover and abundance of branching stony corals showed no difference between impacted and unimpacted reefs. Twenty-four genera of soft corals (in eight families) were recorded, and none showed different abundance or cover in areas of former A. planci impact, compared to unaffected sites. Similarly, no difference was detected among locations in the numbers or area cover of sponges, tunicates, zoanthids, Halimeda or other macro-algae. Mean soft coral cover was 2 to 5% at 10 m on sheltered mid-shelf reefs, and 12 to 17% on more current-exposed reefs. Highest cover and abundances generally occurred on platforms of outer-shelf reefs exposed to relatively strong currents but low wave energy. On Davies Reef, cover and colony numbers of the families Nephtheidae and Xeniidae were low within the zone of wave impact, in flow-protected bays and lagoons, on shaded steep slopes, and at depths above 10 and below 25 m. In contrast, distributions of genera of the family Alcyoniidae were not related to these physical parameters. The physical conditions of a large proportion of habitats appear "sub

Benthic Community Composition and Seabed Characteristics of a Chukchi Sea Pockmark

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacDonald, I. R.; Bluhm, B.; Iken, K.; Gagaev, S.; Robinson, S.

2005-12-01

densities of over 50 individuals per square meter. Preliminary analysis of the box core samples: Polychaetes (e.g. Chaetozone setose, Aricidea sp., Ophelina sp., Progoniada sp., Proclea graffi, Protula globifera), Foraminifera, Nemertini, Coronata (Cnidaria tubes), Sipunculida (Golfingia), Bivalvia, Anthozoa.

Insertion of a self-splicing intron into the mtDNA of atriploblastic animal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Valles, Y.; Halanych, K.; Boore, J.L.

2006-04-14

Nephtys longosetosa is a carnivorous polychaete worm that lives in the intertidal and subtidal zones with worldwide distribution (pleijel&rouse2001). Its mitochondrial genome has the characteristics typical of most metazoans: 37 genes; circular molecule; almost no intergenic sequence; and no significant gene rearrangements when compared to other annelid mtDNAs (booremoritz19981995). Ubiquitous features as small intergenic regions and lack of introns suggested that metazoan mtDNAs are under strong selective pressures to reduce their genome size allowing for faster replication requirements (booremoritz19981995Lynch2005). Yet, in 1996 two type I introns were found in the mtDNA of the basal metazoan Metridium senile (FigureX). Breaking amore » long-standing rule (absence of introns in metazoan mtDNA), this finding was later supported by the further presence of group I introns in other cnidarians. Interestingly, only the class Anthozoa within cnidarians seems to harbor such introns. Although several hundreds of triploblastic metazoan mtDNAs have been sequenced, this study is the first evidence of mitochondrial introns in triploblastic metazoans. The cox1 gene of N. longosetosa has an intron of almost 2 kbs in length. This finding represents as well the first instance of a group II intron (anthozoans harbor group I introns) in all metazoan lineages. Opposite trends are observed within plants, fungi and protist mtDNAs, where introns (both group I and II) and other non-coding sequences are widespread. Plant, fungal and protist mtDNA structure and organization differ enormously from that of metazoan mtDNA. Both, plant and fungal mtDNA are dynamic molecules that undergo high rates of recombination, contain long intergenic spacer regions and harbor both group I and group II introns. However, as metazoans they have a conserved gene content. Protists, on the other hand have a striking variation of gene content and introns that account for the genome size variation. In

Vibrio communis sp. nov., isolated from the marine animals Mussismilia hispida, Phyllogorgia dilatata, Palythoa caribaeorum, Palythoa variabilis and Litopenaeus vannamei.

PubMed

Chimetto, Luciane A; Cleenwerck, Ilse; Alves, Nelson; Silva, Bruno Sergio; Brocchi, Marcelo; Willems, Anne; De Vos, Paul; Thompson, Fabiano L

2011-02-01

Eight Vibrio isolates originating from the marine corals Mussismilia hispida and Phyllogorgia dilatata and the zoanthids Palythoa caribaeorum and Palythoa variabilis in Brazil and the Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in Ecuador were studied by means of a polyphasic approach. The novel isolates formed a tight monophyletic group in the genus Vibrio and were closely related to species of the Vibrio harveyi group, to which they showed more than 99 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. Analysis based on concatenated sequences of the following seven genes, 16S rRNA, gyrB, recA, rpoA, topA, pyrH and mreB (5633 bp in length), showed clear separation between the isolates and species of the V. harveyi group. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis, performed previously, revealed that a representative isolate of this group, LMG 20370, was clearly separate from known Vibrio species (it belonged to the so-called AFLP cluster A31). DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) experiments with representative isolates and type strains of the V. harveyi species group revealed high DDH between the novel isolates (more than 74 %) and less than 70 % DDH towards type strains of related Vibrio species, proving the novel species status of the isolates. Phenotypically, the novel species belongs to the arginine dihydrolase (A)-negative, lysine decarboxylase (L)-positive and ornithine decarboxylase (O)-positive (A-/L+/O+) cluster reported previously. Most species of the V. harveyi group (i.e. Vibrio rotiferianus, V. harveyi, V. parahaemolyticus and V. alginolyticus) also belong to this A-/L+/O+ cluster. However, several phenotypic features can be used for the identification of the novel species. In contrast to its closest phylogenetic neighbours, the novel species exhibits esterase (C4) and N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase activities, but it does not produce acetoin, does not use citrate, α-ketoglutaric acid or propionic acid and does not ferment melibiose. The novel species can