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Symbiosis and Host Immunity in Reef Ecosystems
Author(s) -
Lazar Stephen,
Palmer Andrew G
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.649.5
Subject(s) - symbiodinium , biology , quorum sensing , reef , symbiosis , host (biology) , algae , population , holobiont , ecology , coral reef , immunity , immune system , virulence , bacteria , immunology , gene , genetics , demography , sociology
Many marine reef‐building corals live in nutrient poor conditions, forming symbiotic relationships with dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium to supplement or replace active feeding. In order to maintain this symbiotic state, and avoid being consumed or expelled, these symbionts suppress the immune system of the host. Yet these corals do not show high levels of disease under standard conditions. The simplest hypothesis is that Symbiodinium are able to compensate for this reduction in immunity. Many common reef diseases are associated with bacteria which regulate the transition from being benign to virulent through the population detecting process of quorum sensing (QS). Other algae have proven capable of metabolizing the N‐acyl‐L‐homoserine lactone (AHL) class of QS signals, potentially disrupting these events. In this study we have investigated the ability of members of the genus Symbiodinium to regulate bacterial quorum sensing as a strategy for supplementing the host immune system. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .