The innate immune repertoire in cnidaria--ancestral complexity and stochastic gene loss.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Characterization of the innate immune repertoire of extant cnidarians is of both fundamental and applied interest--it not only provides insights into the basic immunological 'tool kit' of the common ancestor of all animals, but is also likely to be important in understanding the global decline of coral reefs that is presently occurring. Recently, whole genome sequences became available for two cnidarians, Hydra magnipapillata and Nematostella vectensis, and large expressed sequence tag (EST) datasets are available for these and for the coral Acropora millepora.

Results

To better understand the basis of innate immunity in cnidarians, we scanned the available EST and genomic resources for some of the key components of the vertebrate innate immune repertoire, focusin

SUBMITTER: Miller DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1896004 | biostudies-literature | 2007

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature