Dataset Information

Multiple opsins in a reef-building coral, Acropora millepora.

ABSTRACT: Opsins, light-sensitive G protein-coupled receptors, have been identified in corals but their properties are largely unknown. Here, we identified six opsin genes (acropsins 1-6) from a coral species Acropora millepora, including three novel opsins (acropsins 4-6), and successfully characterized the properties of four out of the six acropsins. Acropsins 1 and 6 exhibited light-dependent cAMP increases in cultured cells, suggesting that the acropsins could light-dependently activate Gs-type G protein like the box jellyfish opsin from the same opsin group. Spectral sensitivity curves having the maximum sensitivities at ~ 472 nm and ~ 476 nm were estimated for acropsins 1 and 6, respectively, based on the light wavelength-dependent cAMP increases in these opsins-expressing cells (heterologous action spectroscopy). Acropsin 2 belonging to the same group as acropsins 1 and 6 did not induce light-dependent cAMP or Ca²⁺ changes. We then successfully estimated the acropsin 2 spectral sensitivity curve having its maximum value at ~ 471 nm with its chimera mutant which possessed the third cytoplasmic loop of the Gs-coupled jellyfish opsin. Acropsin 4 categorized as another group light-dependently induced intracellular Ca²⁺ increases but not cAMP changes. Our results uncovered that the Acropora coral possesses multiple opsins coupling two distinct cascades, cyclic nucleotide and Ca²⁺signaling light-dependently.

SUBMITTER: Mason BM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9884665 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Multiple opsins in a reef-building coral, Acropora millepora.

Mason Benjamin M BM Koyanagi Mitsumasa M Sugihara Tomohiro T Iwasaki Makoto M Slepak Vladlen V Miller David J DJ Sakai Yusuke Y Terakita Akihisa A

Scientific reports 20230129 1

Opsins, light-sensitive G protein-coupled receptors, have been identified in corals but their properties are largely unknown. Here, we identified six opsin genes (acropsins 1-6) from a coral species Acropora millepora, including three novel opsins (acropsins 4-6), and successfully characterized the properties of four out of the six acropsins. Acropsins 1 and 6 exhibited light-dependent cAMP increases in cultured cells, suggesting that the acropsins could light-dependently activate Gs-type G prot ...[more]

PMID: 36710295

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Project description:BackgroundUnderstanding the mechanisms by which natural populations cope with environmental stress is paramount to predict their persistence in the face of escalating anthropogenic impacts. Reef-building corals are increasingly exposed to local and global stressors that alter nutritional status causing reduced fitness and mortality, however, these responses can vary considerably across species and populations.Methodology/principal findingsWe compare the expression of 22 coral host genes in individuals from an inshore and an offshore reef location using quantitative Reverse Transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) over the course of 26 days following translocation into a shaded, filtered seawater environment. Declines in lipid content and PSII activity of the algal endosymbionts (Symbiodinium ITS-1 type C2) over the course of the experiment indicated that heterotrophic uptake and photosynthesis were limited, creating nutritional deprivation conditions. Regulation of coral host genes involved in metabolism, CO2 transport and oxidative stress could be detected already after five days, whereas PSII activity took twice as long to respond. Opposing expression trajectories of Tgl, which releases fatty acids from the triacylglycerol storage, and Dgat1, which catalyses the formation of triglycerides, indicate that the decline in lipid content can be attributed, at least in part, by mobilisation of triacylglycerol stores. Corals from the inshore location had initially higher lipid content and showed consistently elevated expression levels of two genes involved in metabolism (aldehyde dehydrogenase) and calcification (carbonic anhydrase).Conclusions/significanceCoral host gene expression adjusts rapidly upon change in nutritional conditions, and therefore can serve as an early signature of imminent coral stress. Consistent gene expression differences between populations indicate that corals acclimatize and/or adapt to local environments. Our results set the stage for analysis of these processes in natural coral populations, to better understand the responses of coral communities to global climate change and to develop more efficient management strategies.

Project description:BackgroundMass coral bleaching is increasing in scale and frequency across the world's coral reefs and is being driven primarily by increased levels of thermal stress arising from global warming. In order to understand the impacts of projected climate change upon corals reefs, it is important to elucidate the underlying cellular mechanisms that operate during coral bleaching and subsequent mortality. In this respect, increased apoptotic cell death activity is an important cellular process that is associated with the breakdown of the mutualistic symbiosis between the cnidarian host and their dinoflagellate symbionts.Methodology/principal findingsThe PRESENT study reports the impacts of different stressors (colchicine and heat stress) on three phases of apoptosis: (i) the potential initiation by differential expression of Bcl-2 members, (ii) the execution of apoptotic events by activation of caspase 3-like proteases and (iii) and finally, the cell disposal indicated by DNA fragmentation in the reef building coral Acropora millepora. In corals incubated with colchicine, an increase in caspase 3-like activity and DNA fragmentation was associated with a relative down-regulation of Bcl-2, suggesting that the initiation of apoptosis may be mediated by the suppression of an anti-apoptotic mechanism. In contrast, in the early steps of heat stress, the induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis was related to a relative up-regulation of Bcl-2 consecutively followed by a delayed decrease in apoptosis activity.Conclusions/significanceIn the light of these results, we propose a model of heat stress in coral hosts whereby increasing temperatures engage activation of caspase 3-dependent apoptosis in cells designated for termination, but also the onset of a delayed protective response involving overexpression of Bcl-2 in surviving cells. This mitigating response to thermal stress could conceivably be an important regulatory mechanism for cell survival in corals exposed to sudden environmental changes.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Ecosystems worldwide are suffering the consequences of anthropogenic impact. The diverse ecosystem of coral reefs, for example, are globally threatened by increases in sea surface temperatures due to global warming. Studies to date have focused on determining genetic diversity, the sequence variability of genes in a species, as a proxy to estimate and predict the potential adaptive response of coral populations to environmental changes linked to climate changes. However, the examination of natural gene expression variation has received less attention. This variation has been implicated as an important factor in evolutionary processes, upon which natural selection can act. RESULTS:We acclimatized coral nubbins from six colonies of the reef-building coral Acropora millepora to a common garden in Heron Island (Great Barrier Reef, GBR) for a period of four weeks to remove any site-specific environmental effects on the physiology of the coral nubbins. By using a cDNA microarray platform, we detected a high level of gene expression variation, with 17% (488) of the unigenes differentially expressed across coral nubbins of the six colonies (jsFDR-corrected, p < 0.01). Among the main categories of biological processes found differentially expressed were transport, translation, response to stimulus, oxidation-reduction processes, and apoptosis. We found that the transcriptional profiles did not correspond to the genotype of the colony characterized using either an intron of the carbonic anhydrase gene or microsatellite loci markers. CONCLUSION:Our results provide evidence of the high inter-colony variation in A. millepora at the transcriptomic level grown under a common garden and without a correspondence with genotypic identity. This finding brings to our attention the importance of taking into account natural variation between reef corals when assessing experimental gene expression differences. The high transcriptional variation detected in this study is interpreted and discussed within the context of adaptive potential and phenotypic plasticity of reef corals. Whether this variation will allow coral reefs to survive to current challenges remains unknown.

Dataset Information

Multiple opsins in a reef-building coral, Acropora millepora.

Publications

Multiple opsins in a reef-building coral, Acropora millepora.

Similar Datasets

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