Project description:The process of calcium carbonate biomineralization has arisen multiple times during metazoan evolution. In the phylum Cnidaria, biomineralization has mostly been studied in the subclass Hexacorallia (i.e. stony corals) in comparison to the subclass Octocorallia (i.e. red corals); the two diverged approximately 600 million years ago. The precious Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubrum, is an octocorallian species, which produces two distinct high-magnesium calcite biominerals, the axial skeleton and the sclerites. In order to gain insight into the red coral biomineralization process and cnidarian biomineralization evolution, we studied the protein repertoire forming the organic matrix (OM) of its two biominerals. We combined High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry and transcriptome analysis to study the OM composition of the axial skeleton and the sclerites. We identified a total of 102 OM proteins, 52 are shared between the two red coral biominerals with scleritin being the most abundant protein in each fraction. Contrary to reef building corals, the red coral is collagen-rich (10 collagen-like proteins). Agrin-like glycoproteins and proteins with sugar-binding domains are also predominant. Twenty-seven and 23 proteins were uniquely assigned to the axial skeleton and the sclerites, respectively. Their inferred regulatory function suggests that the difference between the two biominerals rather relies on the modeling of the matrix network than on specific structural components. At least one OM component appears to have been horizontally transferred from prokaryotes early during Octocorallia evolution. Our results support the view that calcification of the red coral axial skeleton likely represents a secondary calcification of an ancestral gorgonian horny axis. In addition, the comparison with stony coral skeletomes highlighted the low proportion of similar proteins between the biomineral OMs of hexacorallian and octocorallian corals, suggesting an independent acquisition of calcification in anthozoans.
Project description:Despite the fact that deep sea mining is becoming more popular nowadays in terms of obtaining metals ores for daily life purposes, its potential impact to the deep sea habitat, which is originally stable and converse, stills remains uncertain. In order to estimate and regulate the imapct of deep sea mining activities, an in-situ exposure experiment is performed to observe the change in proteomics expression of the deep-sea scvangers, Abyssorchomene distinctus, to copper exposure. This project aims to suggest a potenial protein bio-marker in Abyssorchomene distinctus to assess the impact of mining activities towards deep sea organisms and also discuss the potential application of other deep sea in-situ exposure experiment in the future.
Project description:Background Coral reefs belong to the most ecologically and economically important ecosystems on our planet. Yet, they are under steady decline worldwide due to rising sea surface temperatures, disease, and pollution. Understanding the molecular impact of these stressors on different coral species is imperative in order to predict how coral populations will respond to this continued disturbance. The use of molecular tools such as microarrays has provided deep insight into the molecular stress response of corals. Here, we have performed comparative genomic hybridizations (CGH) with different coral species to an Acropora palmata microarray platform containing 13,546 cDNA clones in order to identify potentially rapidly evolving genes and to determine the suitability of existing microarray platforms for use in gene expression studies (via heterologous hybridization). Results Our results showed that the current microarray platform for A. palmata is able to provide biological relevant information for a wide variety of coral species covering both the complex clade as well the robust clade. Analysis of the fraction of highly diverged genes showed a significantly higher amount of genes without annotation corroborating previous findings that point towards a higher rate of divergence for taxonomically restricted genes. Among the genes with annotation, we found many mitochondrial genes to be highly diverged in M. faveolata when compared to A. palmata, while the majority of nuclear encoded genes maintained an average divergence rate. Conclusions The use of present microarray platforms for transcriptional analyses in different coral species will greatly enhance the understanding of the molecular basis of stress and health and highlight evolutionary differences between scleractinian coral species. On a genomic basis, we show that cDNA arrays can be used to identify patterns of divergence. Mitochondrion-encoded genes seem to have diverged faster than nuclear encoded genes in robust corals. Accordingly, this needs to be taken into account when using mitochondrial markers for scleractinian phylogenies.
Project description:modENCODE_submission_3082 This submission comes from a modENCODE project of Michael Snyder. For full list of modENCODE projects, see http://www.genome.gov/26524648 Project Goal: We are identifying the DNA binding sites for 300 transcription factors in C. elegans. Each transcription factor gene is tagged with the same GFP fusion protein, permitting validation of the gene's correct spatio-temporal expression pattern in transgenic animals. Chromatin immunoprecipitation on each strain is peformed using an anti-GFP antibody, and any bound DNA is deep-sequenced using Solexa GA2 technology. For data usage terms and conditions, please refer to http://www.genome.gov/27528022 and http://www.genome.gov/Pages/Research/ENCODE/ENCODEDataReleasePolicyFinal2008.pdf EXPERIMENT TYPE: CHIP-seq. BIOLOGICAL SOURCE: Strain: OP193(official name : OP193 genotype : unc-119(ed3); wgIs193(sea-2::TY1 EGFP FLAG C; unc-119) outcross : 3 mutagen : Bombard tags : GFP::3xFlag description : This strain's transgene was constructed by Mihail Sarov at the Max Planck Institute for Cell Biology in Tubiginen using Tony Hyman's recombineering pipeline. The resulting plasmid was used for biolistic transformation of an unc-119(ed3) strain. The SEA-2::EGFP fusion protein is expressed in the correct sea-2 spatio-temporal expression pattern. This strain was used for ChIP-seq experiments to map the in vivo binding sites for the SEA-2 transcription factor. made_by : ); Developmental Stage: L3; Genotype: unc-119(ed3); wgIs193(sea-2::TY1 EGFP FLAG C; unc-119); Sex: Hermaphrodite; EXPERIMENTAL FACTORS: Developmental Stage L3; Target gene sea-2; Strain OP193(official name : OP193 genotype : unc-119(ed3); wgIs193(sea-2::TY1 EGFP FLAG C; unc-119) outcross : 3 mutagen : Bombard tags : GFP::3xFlag description : This strain's transgene was constructed by Mihail Sarov at the Max Planck Institute for Cell Biology in Tubiginen using Tony Hyman's recombineering pipeline. The resulting plasmid was used for biolistic transformation of an unc-119(ed3) strain. The SEA-2::EGFP fusion protein is expressed in the correct sea-2 spatio-temporal expression pattern. This strain was used for ChIP-seq experiments to map the in vivo binding sites for the SEA-2 transcription factor. made_by : ); temp (temperature) 20 degree celsius
Project description:The deep marine subsurface is one of the largest unexplored biospheres on Earth, where members of the phylum Chloroflexi are abundant and globally distributed. However, the deep-sea Chloroflexi have remained elusive to cultivation, hampering a more thorough understanding of their metabolisms. In this work, we have successfully isolated a representative of the phylum Chloroflexi, designated strain ZRK33, from deep-sea cold seep sediments. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA genes, genomes, RpoB and EF-tu proteins indicated that strain ZRK33 represents a novel class within the phylum Chloroflexi, designated Sulfochloroflexia. We present a detailed description of the phenotypic traits, complete genome sequence and central metabolisms of the novel strain ZRK33. Notably, sulfate and thiosulfate could significantly promote the growth of the new isolate, possibly through accelerating the hydrolysis and uptake of saccharides. Thus, this result reveals that strain ZRK33 may play a crucial part in sulfur cycling in the deep-sea environments. Moreover, the putative genes associated with assimilatory and dissimilatory sulfate reduction are broadly distributed in the genomes of 27 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from deep-sea cold seep and hydrothermal vents sediments. Together, we propose that the deep marine subsurface Chloroflexi play key roles in sulfur cycling for the first time. This may concomitantly suggest an unsuspected availability of sulfur-containing compounds to allow for the high abundance of Chloroflexi in the deep sea.