Nutrient stress arrests tentacle growth in the coral model Aiptasia

Nils Radecker, Jit Ern Chen, Claudia Pogoreutz, Marcela Herrera Sarrias, Manuel Aranda, Christian R. Voolstra

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

The symbiosis between cnidarians and dinoflagellate algae of the family Symbiodiniaceae builds the foundation of coral reef ecosystems. The sea anemone Aiptasia is an emerging model organism promising to advance our functional understanding of this symbiotic association. Here, we report the observation of a novel phenotype of symbiotic Aiptasia likely induced by severe nutrient starvation. Under these conditions, developing Aiptasia no longer grow any tentacles. At the same time, fully developed Aiptasia do not lose their tentacles, yet produce asexual offspring lacking tentacles. This phenotype, termed ‘Wurst’ Aiptasia, can be easily induced and reverted by nutrient starvation and addition, respectively. Thereby, this observation may offer a new experimental framework to study mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity as well as nutrient cycling within the Cnidaria – Symbiodiniaceae symbiosis.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)61-64
Number of pages4
JournalSymbiosis
Volume78
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 4 2019

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology[Baseline funding]

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