Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Casimir Bamberger, Sandra Pankow, John R. Yates
Summary: The study finds that nvp63 may play a role in controlling genome stability in response to DNA damage, particularly those induced by the activation of transposable elements.
JOURNAL OF PROTEOME RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Laura Baldassarre, Hua Ying, Adam Reitzel, Soren Franzenburgq, Sebastian Fraune
Summary: This study shows that sea anemones acclimated to high temperatures demonstrate increased resistance to thermal stress and that this improved adaptation can be transferred through microbiome transplantation. The findings suggest that microbiome plasticity may play a crucial role in thermal adaptations in animals.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shelly Reuven, Mieka Rinsky, Vera Brekhman, Assaf Malik, Oren Levy, Tamar Lotan
Summary: In cnidarians like Nematostella vectensis, long-term ecological success relies on sexual reproduction, with temperature and light being major inducers for spawning. Transcriptome analysis revealed upregulation of various processes like receptors and cytoskeleton during spawning induction, while downregulation of cell cycle and metabolism-related processes was observed. Our findings also suggest temperature change as a stronger inducer for spawning in Nematostella, expanding our understanding of sexual reproduction in cnidarians.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Laura Baldassarre, Adam M. Reitzel, Sebastian Fraune
Summary: Most multicellular organisms have microbial colonizers that provide benefits to the hosts. This study examines the relative contribution of environment and host genotype to bacterial community composition in Nematostella vectensis, a marine organism. The results show that bacterial communities in N. vectensis respond to changes in ambient temperature and are influenced by host genotype. This study highlights the importance of understanding the plasticity of microbial communities in response to environmental changes.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Layla Al-Shaer, Whitney Leach, Noor Baban, Mia Yagodich, Mathew C. C. Gibson, Michael J. J. Layden
Summary: We investigate factors influencing asexual reproduction in Nematostella vectensis, a burrowing sea anemone capable of transverse fission. Our study demonstrates that the presence of a burrowing substrate strongly promotes transverse fission and animal size does not affect fission rates. Gene expression analysis suggests that transcription factors and signaling pathways play vital roles in regulating transverse fission. Additionally, we find that the cell cycle is suppressed and cell adhesion and patterning mechanisms are downregulated during fission. This research provides insights into the reproductive biology of cnidarians.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Leslie S. Babonis, Camille Enjolras, Joseph F. Ryan, Mark Q. Martindale
Summary: This study reveals the developmental mechanism of a truly novel cell type, cnidocytes. Cnidocytes develop by suppressing the neural fate of a subset of neurons expressing RFamide. A single regulatory gene, a C2H2-type zinc finger transcription factor (ZNF845), plays a crucial role in the development of cnidocytes and emerged through domain shuffling in the ancestor of cnidarians.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gaelle Botton-Amiot, Pedro Martinez, Simon G. Sprecher
Summary: Sea anemones without centralized nervous systems can still form associative memories, as shown by their conditioned response to light and electric shock. These findings shed light on cnidarian behavior and raise fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of cognition in brainless animals.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Oceane Tourniere, James M. Gahan, Henriette Busengdal, Natascha Bartsch, Fabian Rentzsch
Summary: Using the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis as a model system, researchers found that neurons and secretory cells derive from a common pool of progenitor cells, with NvInsm1 playing a crucial role in this process, revealing a close evolutionary relationship between neurons and secretory cells.
Article
Biology
Hanny E. Rivera, Cheng-Yi Chen, Matthew C. Gibson, Ann M. Tarrant
Summary: Parental exposure to elevated temperatures can increase larval thermal tolerance in Nematostella vectensis, with subsequent spawns returning to baseline thresholds when parents are back to normal temperatures, indicating plasticity in parental effects. Maternal effects in gametogenesis may play a role in facilitating dynamic shifts in larval thermal tolerance. Despite genetic differences, parental populations from different locations can increase larval thermal tolerance under high-temperature conditions, suggesting that plasticity in parental effects is inherent in N. vectensis.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Quentin I. B. Lemaitre, Natascha Bartsch, Ian U. Kouzel, Henriette Busengdal, Gemma Sian Richards, Patrick R. H. Steinmetz, Fabian Rentzsch
Summary: Endodermal neurogenesis is a rare phenomenon in animals. Researchers have identified a group of endoderm-specific neural progenitor cells in the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis, characterized by the expression of the transcription factor prdm14d. This study sheds light on the molecular regulation of non-ectodermal neurogenesis using Nematostella vectensis as a model, providing new insights into this poorly understood process.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
James M. Gahan, Ian U. Kouzel, Kamilla Ormevik Jansen, Pawel Burkhardt, Fabian Rentzsch
Summary: This study reveals the role of chromatin modifier Lsd1 in developmental regulation in cnidarians. The findings suggest that the integration of chromatin modifying proteins into developmental regulation predates the divergence of cnidarians and bilaterians, and is an ancient feature of animal development.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Wiebke Ehrlich, James M. Gahan, Fabian Rentzsch, Frank J. P. Kuehn
Summary: This study investigates the physiological function of TRPM2 in N. vectensis and demonstrates that it sensitizes to oxidative stress while attenuates high-temperature injury in this marine invertebrate.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Shani Levy, Vera Brekhman, Anna Bakhman, Assaf Malik, Arnau Sebe-Pedros, Mickey Kosloff, Tamar Lotan
Summary: The study demonstrates that ectopic activation of GABA(B)R signaling affects neurogenic functions in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. The sustained activation of GABA(B)R signaling reversibly arrests the critical metamorphosis transition from planktonic larva to sessile polyp life stage. The findings point to an evolutionarily conserved function of GABA(B)R in neurogenesis regulation and shed light on early cnidarian development.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Anthony M. Bonacolta, Michael T. Connelly, Stephanie M. Rosales, Javier del Campo, Nikki Traylor-Knowles
Summary: Sampling of different body regions can reveal highly specialized bacterial associations within the holobiont and facilitate identification of core microbial symbionts that would otherwise be overlooked by bulk sampling methods. Through compartment-specific sampling of the model cnidarian Nematostella vectensis, a dominance of spirochetes in the capitulum was uncovered, with a phylogenetic analysis showing a close relation to spirochetes previously recovered from wild N. vectensis, suggesting a prevalent and yet uncharacterized association between N. vectensis and spirochetes from the order Spirochaetales.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alison G. G. Cole, Stefan M. M. Jahnel, Sabrina Kaul, Julia Steger, Julia Hagauer, Andreas Denner, Patricio Ferrer Murguia, Elisabeth Taudes, Bob Zimmermann, Robert Reischl, Patrick R. H. Steinmetz, Ulrich Technau
Summary: Gene duplications of bHLH transcription factors and effector genes contribute to the diversification of muscle cell types in the sea anemone Nematostella.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)