Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE22360: Transcriptomic adaptations to symbiotic life in cnidarians : symbiotic vs bleached Anemonia viridis sea anemones GSE22361: Endoderm- vs ectoderm-specific expression of symbiosis genes in the snakelocks sea anemone Refer to individual Series
Project description:Differential expression between endodermal (zooxanthellate) and ectodermal tissue layers in the endosymbiotic sea anemone Anemonia viridis has been analyzed for 3 specimens subjected to a thermal stress (+10°C) for a 2 days period. A symbiosis-dedicated oligonucleotide microarray (2000 selected features) was generated, representing to date the only available oligonucleotide array used for symbiotic cnidarians (GPL10546). We are describing here the preferential expression in ectoderm vs endoderm (also called epidermis and gastroderm, respectively) during the time course of this thermal stress. RNA was extracted from ectodermal or endodermal dissected tissues. 3 different symbiotic anemones were subjected to a thermal and UV stress (+10°C), sampled at T0, T12h and T36h. Tissue dissections were carried out from tentacles immediately after sampling. For each sample, dye-swap hybridizations compared T0 and later time points. For each time point, statistical analysis combines the 3 biological replicates.
Project description:Differential expression between endodermal (zooxanthellate) and ectodermal tissue layers in the endosymbiotic sea anemone Anemonia viridis has been analyzed for 3 specimens subjected to a thermal stress (+10°C) for a 2 days period. A symbiosis-dedicated oligonucleotide microarray (2000 selected features) was generated, representing to date the only available oligonucleotide array used for symbiotic cnidarians (GPL10546). We are describing here the preferential expression in ectoderm vs endoderm (also called epidermis and gastroderm, respectively) during the time course of this thermal stress.
Project description:We monitored gene expression response of the symbiotic sea anemone Anemonia viridis subjected to a thermal and/or UV stress. A symbiosis-dedicated oligonucleotide microarray (2000 selected features) was generated, representing to date the only available oligonucleotide array used for symbiotic cnidarians (GPL10546). We are describing here the expression evolution during the first phase (5 days) of the stress.
Project description:The concept of germ layers has been one of the foremost organizing principles in developmental biology, classification, systematics and evolution for 150 years. Of the three germ layers, the mesoderm is found in bilaterian animals but is absent in species in the phyla Cnidaria and Ctenophora, which has been taken as evidence that the mesoderm was the final germ layer to evolve. The origin of the ectoderm and endoderm germ layers, however, remains unclear, with models supporting the antecedence of each as well as a simultaneous origin. Here we determine the temporal and spatial components of gene expression spanning embryonic development for all Caenorhabditis elegans genes and use it to determine the evolutionary ages of the germ layers. The gene expression program of the mesoderm is induced after those of the ectoderm and endoderm, thus making it the last germ layer both to evolve and to develop. Strikingly, the C. elegans endoderm and ectoderm expression programs do not co-induce; rather the endoderm activates earlier, and this is also observed in the expression of endoderm orthologues during the embryology of the frog Xenopus tropicalis, the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis and the sponge Amphimedon queenslandica. Querying the phylogenetic ages of specifically expressed genes reveals that the endoderm comprises older genes. Taken together, we propose that the endoderm program dates back to the origin of multicellularity, whereas the ectoderm originated as a secondary germ layer freed from ancestral feeding functions.
Project description:We assessed genome-wide temporal transcript expression patterns in the sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, in Great Sippewissett Marsh in Massachusetts, where anemones experienced a natural light cycle with intensity varying from 0-200 lum/ft2, daily temperature fluctuations of ~9C. We measured ‘in situ’ gene expression from recaptured anemones every hour from 0800 to 1700 and identified six time-dependent gene clusters, represented by several genes involved in metabolism, stress, and transcription-translation related functions.
Project description:Cnidaria are typically considered diploblastic (i.e. consisting of two germ layers) in contrast to their triploblastic sister clade, the Bilateria. However, a recent study suggested that sea anemones and other cnidarians have three segregated germ layer identities, corresponding to the bilaterian germ layers1. Here, we investigated, how the three germ layer identities are specified during early development of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. First, the mesodermal territory is specified at the animal pole at 6 hours postfertilization, followed by the specification of a ring of endodermal territory between mesoderm and ectoderm. We then assessed the role of β-catenin, MAPK and Notch signaling pathways during mesoderm and endoderm formation. Our results show that the mesoderm is initiated by MAPK signaling and simultaneously restricted to the future oral side by mutually exclusive nuclear β-catenin signaling. The mesodermal cells then express the Delta ligand, while the ectodermal cells express the Notch receptor. Inhibition of Notch signaling as well as ectopic expression of the Notch intracellular domain showed that endodermal tissue identity is induced by Notch signaling at the boundary between mesoderm and ectoderm. We propose a new model that outlines the different steps leading to the segregation of mesoderm and endoderm identities in Nematostella, confirming the presence of 3 distinct germ layer identities in this cnidarian. Notably, the observed crosstalk of MAPK, β-catenin and Notch signaling in the specification of three germ layers in Nematostella is highly reminiscent to early stage gastrulae of sea urchins suggesting that triploblasty may predate the split of cnidarians and bilaterians.