A5025357177- Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
- Marine Sponges and Natural Products
- Marine and coastal plant biology
- Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology
- Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
- Photoreceptor and optogenetics research
- Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses
- Marine and fisheries research
- interferon and immune responses
- Immune Response and Inflammation
- Protist diversity and phylogeny
- Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
- Legume Nitrogen Fixing Symbiosis
- Phagocytosis and Immune Regulation
- Aquaculture disease management and microbiota
Centre for Genomic Regulation
2023-2024
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
2023
University of Haifa
2019-2022
Stony corals are colonial cnidarians that sustain the most biodiverse marine ecosystems on Earth: coral reefs. Despite their ecological importance, little is known about cell types and molecular pathways underpin biology of reef-building corals. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we define over 40 across life cycle Stylophora pistillata. We discover specialized immune cells, uncover developmental gene expression dynamics calcium-carbonate skeleton formation. By simultaneously measuring...
Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) is an enzyme in human cells that controls immune response to cytosolic DNA. Upon binding DNA, cGAS synthesizes a nucleotide signal 2′3′-cGAMP activates STING-dependent downstream immunity. Here, we discover cGAS-like receptors (cGLRs) constitute major family of pattern recognition innate Building on recent analysis Drosophila, identify >3,000 cGLRs present nearly all metazoan phyla. A forward biochemical screening 150 animal reveals conserved mechanism...
Examining early-branching animal phyla can help reconstructing the evolutionary origin of immune cells. Here we characterized related cell program in sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, a model organism representing phylum Cnidaria that diverged ~600 million years ago from rest animals. By using transgenic reporter line expressing mCherry under RLRb antiviral promoter show cells fluorescent upon stimulation with viral mimic poly(I:C) are morphologically and transcriptomically distinct. These...
Microbial communities confer multiple beneficial effects to their multicellular hosts. To evaluate the evolutionary and ecological implications of animal-microbe interactions, it is essential understand how bacterial colonization secured maintained during transition from one generation next. However, mechanisms symbiont transmission are poorly studied for many species, especially in marine environments, where surrounding water constitutes an additional source microbes. Nematostella vectensis...
Global climate change, particularly rising sea surface temperatures, profoundly impacts coral ecosystems, disrupting reproduction synchrony, symbiotic relationships with algae from the Symbiodiniceae family, and causing widespread bleaching mortality among populations. Oculina patagonica, a temperate scleractinian dominant in Mediterranean coastal waters, tolerates an annual temperature range of 10- 31°C. Moreover, past three decades, temperatures have rapidly risen Eastern Sea. O....
Global climate change is profoundly impacting coral ecosystems. Rising sea surface temperatures, in particular, disrupt reproductive synchrony, cause bleaching, and mortality. Oculina patagonica, a temperate scleractinian abundant across the Mediterranean Sea, can grow at temperature range of 10–31 °C. Studies conducted three decades ago documented this species bleaching during summer months, same time as its gonads mature. However, Eastern Sea experiencing some fastest-warming temperatures...
Abstract The metabotropic gamma-amino-butyric acid B receptor (GABA R) is a G protein–coupled that mediates neuronal inhibition by the neurotransmitter GABA. Here, we identified putative GABA receptors and signaling modulators in basal sea anemone Nematostella vectensis . Activation of R reversibly arrests planula-to-polyp transformation during early development affects neurogenic program. We four homologs have conserved 3D extracellular domains residues needed for binding agonist baclofen....
Abstract Stony coral exoskeletons build the foundation to most biologically diverse yet fragile marine ecosystems on earth, reefs. Understanding corals biomineralization mechanisms is therefore crucial for reef management and using skeletons in geochemical studies. In this study, we combine in-vivo cryo-electron microscopy with single-cell RNA-seq data gain novel insights into calcifying micro-environment that facilitates primary polyps of stony Stylophora pistillata . We show an intimate...