The relationship between algae and jellyfish offers insights into immune health
Marine animals such as jellyfish, corals, and sea anemones often live in symbiotic relationships with algae inside their cells. Animals provide algae with food and shelter. In return, algae provide animals with some of the food they make from sunlight through photosynthesis.
This food production sounds great for jellyfish, but the algae can also alter the immunity of their animal hosts, similar to changes caused by human pathogens such as the parasites that cause malaria. A new study by researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington shows that a side effect of this partnership is that the jellyfish’s immune systems are weakened, reducing their ability to fight infections.
The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
This study provides answers about how living with a commensal partner inside animal cells affects the host animal’s immune system. The discovery has important implications for other marine life, including endangered corals, which are rapidly dying out due to outbreaks of various diseases, the most devastating of which is tissue loss disease in stony corals.
For this project, scientists studied the inverted jellyfish’s larval stage, the polyp stage. At the polyp stage, jellyfish can survive with or without symbiotic algae, thus creating a natural experiment. The researchers exposed two groups of jellyfish polyps to harmful bacteria. One group of polyps has symbiotic algae and the other group lacks symbiotic algae.
“The results were clear,” said Madison Emery, lead author of the study and a UTA alumnus who studied in the lab of UTA biology professor and paper co-author Laura Midlertz. Dr. Emery is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Michigan State University.
“Jellyfish polyps with algae had lower survival rates when exposed to bacteria than those without algae,” Emery added. “This means that the presence of symbiotic algae inside the cells makes it harder for jellyfish to resist infections.”
Taking a closer look at the genes involved in the immune response, the researchers found that polyps with and without algae had different gene expression activity. This shows that living with algae changes the way the jellyfish’s immune system works, making them more vulnerable to bacteria. Researchers believe that polyps with commensal algae are more likely to die from bacterial infection because the immune response is stronger, more inflammatory, and causes more damage to cells.
“This research is important for coral health and conservation,” said Dr. Midlers, who has studied coral reef diseases for many years. “Corals, like jellyfish, rely on relationships with algae to obtain the food they need to survive. These symbiotic relationships support the health and survival of coral reefs, which are essential for marine biodiversity and coastal protection. extremely important.”
“Understanding how these relationships affect marine organisms’ immune systems will help scientists protect and restore coral reefs, especially in the face of disease outbreaks and environmental challenges from climate change.” It will help you plan your strategy.”
Further information: Madison A. Emery et al, Trade-offs between photosymbiosis and innate immunity influence cnidarian responses to pathogenic bacteria, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0428
Provided by University of Texas at Arlington
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