Apoptosis in Cnidarian/Algal Symbioses

俄勒冈州立大学的维吉尼亚·韦斯博士和拉霍亚过敏与免疫学研究所的道格拉斯·格林博士获得了一笔拨款，用于研究海葵、刺胞动物及其组织内单细胞藻类之间有益的共生关系中的程序性细胞死亡或细胞凋亡。细胞凋亡是一个基本的生命过程，在高等动物中已被充分表征，但在刺胞动物和藻类等更原始的群体中研究相对较少。Weis和Green将在分子和生化水平上描述海葵/藻类共生中的细胞凋亡。他们将在这些原始生物中识别和描述与包括人类在内的高等动物中发现的基因密切相关的基因。最后，新的最先进的基因技术将用于阻止细胞凋亡基因产物的正确功能。这种方法将有助于确定凋亡基因在调节和维持珊瑚/藻类共生中所起的作用。细胞凋亡在所有动物的生命中都起着重要的作用。大量的信号触发了一系列复杂事件的激活，导致细胞快速有序的死亡。在过去的十年中，对细胞凋亡的兴趣导致了细胞凋亡在动物（包括人类）发育、衰老、应激和疾病中的关键作用的信息爆炸。然而，迄今为止，很少有研究者关注原始动物的细胞凋亡。了解细胞凋亡的进化起源将为了解脊椎动物和人类这一过程的复杂性提供有价值的见解。海葵/藻类的共生关系与造礁珊瑚的共生关系密切相关，是研究受威胁珊瑚的理想模型。珊瑚是整个珊瑚礁生态系统的营养和结构基础，因此在全球具有重要的生态意义。全世界的珊瑚礁正在以惊人的速度消失，这在很大程度上是由于珊瑚/藻类共生关系破裂造成的珊瑚白化现象。漂白的细胞和分子性质才刚刚开始被探索，细胞凋亡被认为是漂白的一种可能机制。刺胞/藻类共生中细胞凋亡的研究将是实现确定细胞凋亡在珊瑚白化中的作用这一长期目标的第一步。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Virginia Weis of Oregon State University and Dr. Douglas Green of the La Jolla Institute of Allergy and Immunology to examine programmed cell death, or apoptosis, in the beneficial symbiosis between a sea anemone, a cnidarian, and its singled-celled algae resident within its tissues. Apoptosis is a fundamental life process and has been well-characterized in higher animals but relatively poorly studied in more primitive groups such as cnidarians and algae. Weis and Green will describe apoptosis at the molecular and biochemical levels in the anemone/algae symbiosis. They will identify and characterize genes in these primitive organisms that are closely related to those found in higher animals, including humans. Finally, new state-of-the-art genetic techniques will be used to block the correct functioning of apoptosis gene products. This approach will help determine the role that apoptosis genes play in the regulation and maintenance of coral/algal symbioses.Apoptosis plays an important role throughout the lives of all animals. Numerous signals trigger the activation of a complex cascade of events that results in the rapid and orderly death of cells. Interest in apoptosis in the last decade has led to an explosion of information on the critical role of apoptosis in animal (including humans) development, aging, stress, and disease. To date, however, few investigators have focused on apoptosis in primitive animals. Understanding the evolutionary origin of apoptosis will provide valuable insight into the complexities of this process in vertebrates and humans. The sea anemone/algae symbiosis is closely related to the symbiotic relationship that comprises reef-building corals, and is an ideal model for the study of threatened corals. Corals form the trophic and structural foundation of the entire reef ecosystem and are therefore of fundamental ecological importance globally. Coral reefs are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide, due in large part to the phenomenon of coral bleaching, which results from the breakdown of the coral/algal symbiosis. The cellular and molecular nature of bleaching is only beginning to be explored and apoptosis has been implicated as one possible mechanism of bleaching. The investigation of apoptosis in a cnidarian/algal symbiosis will be a first step towards a achieving a long-term goal of determining the role of apoptosis in coral bleaching.