Project description:A mutualistic relationship between reef-building corals and endosymbiotic algae (Symbiodinium spp.) forms the basis for the existence of coral reefs. Genotyping tools for Symbiodinium spp. have added a new level of complexity to studies concerning cnidarian growth, nutrient acquisition, and stress. For example, the response of the coral holobiont to thermal stress is connected to the host-Symbiodinium genotypic combination, as different partnerships can have different bleaching susceptibilities. If, and to what extent, differences in algal symbiont clade contents can exert effects on the coral host transcriptome is currently unknown. In this study, we monitored algal physiological parameters and profiled the coral host transcriptional responses in acclimated, thermally stressed, and recovered coral fragments using a custom cDNA gene expression microarray. Combining these analyses with results from algal and host genotyping revealed a striking symbiont effect on both the acclimated coral host transcriptome and the magnitude of the thermal stress response. This is the first study that links coral host transcriptomic patterns to the clade content of their algal symbiont community. Our data provide a critical step to elucidating the molecular basis of the apparent variability seen among different coral-algal partnerships.
Project description:Snakes possess a unique sensory system for detecting infrared radiation, enabling them to generate a ‘thermal image’ of predators or prey. Infrared signals are initially received by the pit organ, a highly specialized facial structure that is innervated by nerve fibers of the somatosensory system. How this organ detects and transduces infrared signals into nerve impulses is not known. Here we use an unbiased transcriptional profiling approach to identify TRPA1 as the infrared receptor on sensory neurons that innervate the pit organ. TRPA1 from pit bearing snakes (rattlesnakes and pythons) are the most heat sensitive vertebrate ion channels thus far identified, consistent with their role as primary transducers of infrared stimuli in these animals. Thus, snakes detect infrared signals through a mechanism involving radiant heating of the pit organ, rather than photochemical transduction. These findings illustrate the broad evolutionary tuning of TRP channels as thermosensors in the vertebrate nervous system.
Project description:Snakes possess a unique sensory system for detecting infrared radiation, enabling them to generate a ‘thermal image’ of predators or prey. Infrared signals are initially received by the pit organ, a highly specialized facial structure that is innervated by nerve fibers of the somatosensory system. How this organ detects and transduces infrared signals into nerve impulses is not known. Here we use an unbiased transcriptional profiling approach to identify TRPA1 as the infrared receptor on sensory neurons that innervate the pit organ. TRPA1 from pit bearing snakes (rattlesnakes and pythons) are the most heat sensitive vertebrate ion channels thus far identified, consistent with their role as primary transducers of infrared stimuli in these animals. Thus, snakes detect infrared signals through a mechanism involving radiant heating of the pit organ, rather than photochemical transduction. These findings illustrate the broad evolutionary tuning of TRP channels as thermosensors in the vertebrate nervous system. Gene expression measurements implicate TRPA1 as the heat-sensitive channel in diverse pit snakes
Project description:Here we report the first recovery, sequencing, and identification of fossil biomineral proteins from a Pleistocene invertebrate. Fossils of the Caribbean stony coral Orbicella annularis retain total hydrolyzable amino acids of a similar composition to extracts from modern O. annularis skeletons and ~10% of the modern skeletal proteome was sequenced by LC-MS/MS over multiple trials in the best-preserved fossil coral specimen. The data are rich in acidic amino acids such as aspartate and glutamate typical of skeletal proteins, and one of the four sequenced fossil proteins, a highly acidic protein, has been previously characterized in modern coral skeletons. A combination of degradation, or amino acid racemization inhibition of trypsin digestion, appears to limit greater recovery. Nevertheless, our workflow determines optimal samples for effective sequencing of fossil coral proteins, allowing comparison of modern and fossil invertebrate protein sequences, and will likely lead to further improvements of the methods. Sequencing of endogenous organic molecules in fossil biominerals provides an ancient record of composition, potentially clarifying evolutionary changes and biotic responses to paleoenvironments.
Project description:Here we report the first recovery, sequencing, and identification of fossil biomineral proteins from a Pleistocene invertebrate. Fossils of the Caribbean stony coral Orbicella annularis retain total hydrolyzable amino acids of a similar composition to extracts from modern O. annularis skeletons and ~10% of the modern skeletal proteome was sequenced by LC-MS/MS over multiple trials in the best-preserved fossil coral specimen. The data are rich in acidic amino acids such as aspartate and glutamate typical of skeletal proteins, and one of the four sequenced fossil proteins, a highly acidic protein, has been previously characterized in modern coral skeletons. A combination of degradation, or amino acid racemization inhibition of trypsin digestion, appears to limit greater recovery. Nevertheless, our workflow determines optimal samples for effective sequencing of fossil coral proteins, allowing comparison of modern and fossil invertebrate protein sequences, and will likely lead to further improvements of the methods. Sequencing of endogenous organic mand biotic responses to paleoenvironments.
Project description:Here we report the first recovery, sequencing, and identification of fossil biomineral proteins from a Pleistocene invertebrate. Fossils of the Caribbean stony coral Orbicella annularis retain total hydrolyzable amino acids of a similar composition to extracts from modern O. annularis skeletons and ~10% of the modern skeletal proteome was sequenced by LC-MS/MS over multiple trials in the best-preserved fossil coral specimen. The data are rich in acidic amino acids such as aspartate and glutamate typical of skeletal proteins, and one of the four sequenced fossil proteins, a highly acidic protein, has been previously characterized in modern coral skeletons. A combination of degradation, or amino acid racemization inhibition of trypsin digestion, appears to limit greater recovery. Nevertheless, our workflow determines optimal samples for effective sequencing of fossil coral proteins, allowing comparison of modern and fossil invertebrate protein sequences, and will likely lead to further improvements of the methods. Sequencing of endogenous organic molecules in fossil biominerals provides an ancient record of composition, potentially clarifying evolutionary changes and biotic responses to paleoenvironments.
Project description:Here we report the first recovery, sequencing, and identification of fossil biomineral proteins from a Pleistocene invertebrate. Fossils of the Caribbean stony coral Orbicella annularis retain total hydrolyzable amino acids of a similar composition to extracts from modern O. annularis skeletons and ~10% of the modern skeletal proteome was sequenced by LC-MS/MS over multiple trials in the best-preserved fossil coral specimen. The data are rich in acidic amino acids such as aspartate and glutamate typical of skeletal proteins, and one of the four sequenced fossil proteins, a highly acidic protein, has been previously characterized in modern coral skeletons. A combination of degradation, or amino acid racemization inhibition of trypsin digestion, appears to limit greater recovery. Nevertheless, our workflow determines optimal samples for effective sequencing of fossil coral proteins, allowing comparison of modern and fossil invertebrate protein sequences, and will likely lead to further improvements of the methods. Sequencing of endogenous organic molecules in fossil biominerals provides an ancient record of composition, potentially clarifying evolutionary changes and biotic responses to paleoenvironments.
Project description:Here we report the first recovery, sequencing, and identification of fossil biomineral proteins from a Pleistocene invertebrate. Fossils of the Caribbean stony coral Orbicella annularis retain total hydrolyzable amino acids of a similar composition to extracts from modern O. annularis skeletons and ~10% of the modern skeletal proteome was sequenced by LC-MS/MS over multiple trials in the best-preserved fossil coral specimen. The data are rich in acidic amino acids such as aspartate and glutamate typical of skeletal proteins, and one of the four sequenced fossil proteins, a highly acidic protein, has been previously characterized in modern coral skeletons. A combination of degradation, or amino acid racemization inhibition of trypsin digestion, appears to limit greater recovery. Nevertheless, our workflow determines optimal samples for effective sequencing of fossil coral proteins, allowing comparison of modern and fossil invertebrate protein sequences, and will likely lead to further improvements of the methods. Sequencing of endogenous organic molecules in fossil biominerals provides an ancient record of composition, potentially clarifying evolutionary changes and biotic responses to paleoenvironments.