Apoptosis in Cnidarian/Algal Symbioses

俄勒冈州立大学的弗吉尼亚·韦斯博士和拉霍亚过敏与免疫学研究所的道格拉斯·格林博士获得了一项资助，用于研究海葵与其组织中的单细胞藻类之间有益的共生过程中的程序性细胞死亡或细胞凋亡。细胞凋亡是一种基本的生命过程，在高等动物中已经得到了很好的研究，但在更原始的群体中，如线虫和藻类，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。他们将识别和描述这些原始有机体中与高等动物(包括人类)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被用来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珊瑚/藻类共生的调节和维持中所起的作用。细胞凋亡在所有动物的一生中都扮演着重要的角色。许多信号触发一系列复杂的事件的激活，导致细胞迅速而有序的死亡。在过去的十年里，人们对细胞凋亡的兴趣导致了关于细胞凋亡在动物(包括人类)发育、衰老、应激和疾病中的关键作用的信息爆炸式的增长。然而，到目前为止，很少有研究人员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/藻类共生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式。珊瑚构成了整个珊瑚礁生态系统的营养和结构基础，因此在全球具有基本的生态重要性。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/藻类共生的破裂造成的珊瑚漂白现象。漂白的细胞和分子本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。研究珊瑚/藻类共生中的细胞凋亡将是朝着实现确定细胞凋亡在珊瑚漂白中的作用这一长期目标迈出的第一步。

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.