Decoupling behavioral and transcriptional responses to color in an eyeless cnidarian.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Animals have specific molecular, physiological, and behavioral responses to light that are influenced by wavelength and intensity. Predictable environmental changes - predominantly solar and lunar cycles - drive endogenous daily oscillations by setting internal pacemakers, otherwise known as the circadian clock. Cnidarians have been a focal group to discern the evolution of light responsiveness due to their phylogenetic position as a sister phylum to bilaterians and broad range of light-responsive behaviors and physiology. Marine species that occupy a range of depths will experience different ranges of wavelengths and light intensities, which may result in variable phenotypic responses. Here, we utilize the eyeless sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, an estuarine anemone

SUBMITTER: Leach WB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7222589 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature