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Gruber-Vodicka H, Berndt H, Duarte I. Symbiosis: Aquatic apicomplexans shedding light on disguised associations. Curr Biol 2024; 34:R576-R578. [PMID: 38889680 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2024]
Abstract
Aquatic apicomplexans called Corallicolida have been found in tropical and coral-reef settings, infecting many coral species. New data challenge this tropical distribution and expand the corallicolids' range well into the cold temperate. Surprisingly, the sister clade to corallicolids infects only one group of vertebrates - bony fishes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Henry Berndt
- Marine Symbiosis Group, Zoological Institute, Kiel University, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Igor Duarte
- Marine Symbiosis Group, Zoological Institute, Kiel University, 24118 Kiel, Germany
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Grassi E, Montefalcone M, Cesaroni L, Guidi L, Balsamo M, Semprucci F. Taxonomic and functional nematode diversity in Maldivian coral degradation zones: patterns across reef typologies and depths. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13644. [PMID: 35791363 PMCID: PMC9250765 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The intensification of dredging and infilling activities in lagoons and on coral reefs are common practices in the Maldivian archipelago, and these activities alter the biodiversity of the bioconstructors and the functioning of the ecosystem. The alteration of environmental factors can also affect inconspicuous fauna, such as free-living nematodes. The implications of a reduction in biodiversity may transcend decreased taxonomic diversity, resulting in changes in functional diversity and redundancy; however, how the environmental conditions and human pressure affects the functionality of nematodes in Maldivian coral degradation zones (CDZs) remain poorly understood. In this paper, we examined changes in the taxonomic and functional diversity and the functional redundancy in nematode communities regarding the geographic location (atolls with various levels of human pressure), the exposure and topography of the reef (lagoon and ocean), the slope of the reef, and the depth. The functional diversity and redundancy were evaluated by considering two main biological traits of nematodes: i) the trophic strategy, and ii) the life strategy. The extremely high number of nematode genera observed in the Maldives is supported by the high complexity of the carbonate sediments. The reef exposure and depth were the most relevant environmental factors that influenced the taxonomic and functional diversity. The functional diversity, according to the trophic strategies, mirrored the taxonomic diversity because the adaptive plasticity of nematode buccal cavity structures is closely associated with the high biodiversity of the phylum. The high abundance of k-strategists in ocean reefs may indicate a higher ecological quality when compared to lagoon reefs; however, the absence of significant differences in life strategy functional diversity and functional redundancy indicates that a recovery process is underway. Analyses of nematode communities should be combined with standard investigations of reef bioconstructors during monitoring activities to assess the vulnerability of CDZ systems to future disturbances and facilitate the adoption of the most appropriate preventative actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora Grassi
- DiSB, University of Urbino, Urbino, Italy,Fano Marine Center, The Inter-Institute Center for Research on Marine Biodiversity, Resources and Biotechnologies, Fano, Italy
| | | | | | | | - Maria Balsamo
- DiSB, University of Urbino, Urbino, Italy,Fano Marine Center, The Inter-Institute Center for Research on Marine Biodiversity, Resources and Biotechnologies, Fano, Italy,Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), Rome, Italy
| | - Federica Semprucci
- DiSB, University of Urbino, Urbino, Italy,Fano Marine Center, The Inter-Institute Center for Research on Marine Biodiversity, Resources and Biotechnologies, Fano, Italy,Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), Rome, Italy
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Weber PM, Paredes GF, Viehboeck T, Pende N, Volland JM, Gros O, VanNieuwenhze M, Ott J, Bulgheresi S. FtsZ-mediated fission of a cuboid bacterial symbiont. iScience 2022; 25:103552. [PMID: 35059602 PMCID: PMC8760462 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Revised: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Less than a handful of cuboid and squared cells have been described in nature, which makes them a rarity. Here, we show how Candidatus Thiosymbion cuboideus, a cube-like gammaproteobacterium, reproduces on the surface of marine free-living nematodes. Immunostaining of symbiont cells with an anti-fimbriae antibody revealed that they are host-polarized, as these appendages exclusively localized at the host-proximal (animal-attached) pole. Moreover, by applying a fluorescently labeled metabolic probe to track new cell wall insertion in vivo, we observed that the host-attached pole started septation before the distal one. Similarly, Ca. T. cuboideus cells immunostained with an anti-FtsZ antibody revealed a proximal-to-distal localization pattern of this tubulin homolog. Although FtsZ has been shown to arrange into squares in synthetically remodeled cuboid cells, here we show that FtsZ may also mediate the division of naturally occurring ones. This implies that, even in natural settings, membrane roundness is not required for FtsZ function. Ca. T. cuboideus cells are cuboid Septation is host oriented in Ca. T. cuboideus FtsZ localization pattern recapitulates that of new PG insertion FtsZ polymerizes into either straight or sharp-cornered filaments
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp M. Weber
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Environmental Cell Biology Group, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Gabriela F. Paredes
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Environmental Cell Biology Group, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Tobias Viehboeck
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Environmental Cell Biology Group, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Nika Pende
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Environmental Cell Biology Group, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Evolutionary Biology of the Microbial Cell Unit, Department of Microbiology, Institut Pasteur, 25-28 Rue du Dr Roux, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Jean-Marie Volland
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Environmental Cell Biology Group, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- LRC Systems, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Olivier Gros
- C3MAG, UFR Des Sciences Exactes Et Naturelles, Université Des Antilles, BP 592, 97159 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France
| | | | - Jörg Ott
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Limnology and Bio-Oceanography Unit, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Silvia Bulgheresi
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Environmental Cell Biology Group, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Corresponding author
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